Paid Leave

Annual paid leave is leave granted to workers who have been employed for a certain period, allowing them to take time off with pay (without a reduction in wages). This is stipulated by the Labor Standards Act. In this article, I will introduce the basic rules regarding annual paid leave.

Conditions for Paid Leave

You can get annual paid leave if:

You’ve worked for the company for 6 months.

You’ve attended work for at least 80% of your working days.

If you meet these conditions, you’ll receive your first paid leave after six months.

Paid Leave Days

The number of paid leave days you get depends on how long you’ve been with the company.

After 6 months, you get 10 days of paid leave. As you continue working, you’ll receive more days each year according to the law.

Choosing When to Take Leave

You can decide when to take your paid leave, and your company must honor it. However, if your leave disrupts business operations, the company can ask you to reschedule. 

This usually happens if:

• Many employees request leave at the same time.
• You request long leave during a busy period.

The company can’t use “staff shortage” or “too much work” as reasons to deny your leave without making efforts to adjust staff first.

Mandatory 5 Days of Leave

In principle, paid leave is obtained by employees requesting it from their company. However, in Japan, due to considerations for the workplace and hesitation to take time off, the rate of taking paid leave has remained low. No matter how much paid leave is provided as a system, it is meaningless if it is not actually used.

Since 2019, companies must ensure that all employees with at least 10 days of paid leave take at least 5 days off each year. This is to improve the low usage rate of paid leave in Japan.

Paid Leave Expiry

Paid leave expires after 2 years. 

For example, if you carried over 10 days from last year and got 20 new days this year:

• If you use 15 days: 10 from last year, and 5 from this year’s new days, leaving 15 days to carry over to next year.
• If you use 5 days: 5 from last year, and the remaining 5 from last year expire, leaving 20 new days to carry over.

Hourly Paid Leave

You can take paid leave in hourly increments, like 1 hour or 3 hours, instead of whole or half days. However, it can’t be less than an hour. The law allows up to 5 days of paid leave to be taken in hourly increments each year. Beyond that, you must take it in full or half days.

Summary

Paid leave is essential for workers to rest and manage personal matters. If you meet the conditions, make sure to understand and use your paid leave. It helps you stay refreshed and more productive at work.