I work as a full time employee for a Japanese company. The amount of PTO I receive is the minimum amount based on the time I’ve been with the company.
Every August, 4 of my PTO days are used for Summer Vacation. I would much rather have those days to use throughout the year.
Is this type of thing normal in Japan? Is it even legal to do this? It really seems like a BS loophole to the labor laws.
7 comments
It’s not uncommon for Japanese companies to be able to designate when you can use a certain amount of your yearly leave days. Check your contract and company policy to see what it says about leave at your company.
Sounds like it could be a mistranslation? Most companies give extra days for summer vacation which you can use anytme during the specified summer. Maybe double check what it says in Japanese on your contract.
Paid leave is covered by Article 39 Labour Standards Act.Employers may designate all but 5 days of annual paid leave if they have the agreement of a majority union or a majority elected workplace representative.Ask your employer for a copy of the agreement. If one does not exist, they may not legally decided when you take paid leave. Also check who signed the agreement. If it is not a majority union or an elected worker and is instead a supervisor or manager, then the agreement may not be valid.
A lot of Japanese companies have days off during August cuz it’s a traditional holiday (お盆、very huge, almost equal to new year). It is not really a average PTO
Can you read Japanese? There is a long post about it
[https://hupro-job.com/articles/1628](https://hupro-job.com/articles/1628)
夏季休暇を、会社が定めた計画付与によって有給扱いにするというのは、**正当な手続きを踏んでいれば**違法ではありません。
しかしもし、あなたの勤務先が事前の説明もなく、就業規則への記載もなく、労使協定の締結もないまま、一方的に夏季休暇を有給扱いにされたとしたら違法の可能性が高いです。
**労働基準監督署**や、**都道府県労働局**などへのご相談をお勧めします。
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It is not illegal to treat summer vacations as paid by granting a plan determined by the company as long as the proper procedures are followed.
However, if your employer unilaterally treats your summer vacation as paid without any prior explanation, no mention in the work rules, and no labor-management agreement, there is a high possibility that it is illegal.
We recommend that you consult with the Labor Standards Inspection Office or the Prefectural Labor Bureau. by Google Translate
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That being said, decent companies treat it as “holiday” rather than “PTO” so you won’t feel your PTO length is shortened – my friends working for Japanese companies barely even consider it’s a forced PTO, and my friends working for foreign companies feel jealous of them of having more holidays .They would compare PTO length without counting お盆休み.
However, some companies might be cheap and push the legal boundary, Did they mislead you on that part? it’s your judgement now
*Edited 3 replies into one reply
workplace can choose up to 5 days as mandatory “time off”. every company i’ve worked for had used Obon week
It’s a common practice. Unlike in the US, you can’t use your PTO based on when you want to take a vacation. Most Japanese people use it during long holidays like Golden Week, Obon, and New Year so as not to run afoul of the company business schedule.
Unfortunately that’s pretty common and completely legal. They can decide up to 5 days, but it has to be written in your contract. Found out the hard way. In the last company I was, out of the 10 days, only could use 5 days freely. Completely depressing.