Work 4 days a week and get 10-20% less salary… Promotion of the three-day holiday system in Japan

The Japanese government is considering the introduction of the’optional 3 days a week holiday system’, which works 4 days a week and takes 3 days off. With the introduction of various types of work on the occasion of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), the work was initiated to provide policy support and institutionalization.

On the 2nd, citizens wearing masks are crossing a crosswalk near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. [AFP=연합뉴스]

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 6th, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s ‘100 million total activity promotion headquarters’ is scheduled to contain a recommendation to a three-day holiday system in an upcoming interim report. This is reflected in the’Economic and Financial Management Guidelines’ released by the Japanese government in June. At an interview on the 5th, Katsunobu Kato said, “It is important to promote various types of work in terms of achieving balance between life and work, such as child-rearing, nursing, and disease.” did.

As Corona 19 prolongs, various types of work such as telecommuting and jet lag are settling in Japan as well as around the world. Three days a week holiday system As one of these flexible work schedules, Asahi said that when the system is introduced, it will be a method that allows employees who wish to work four days a week while reducing their monthly salary by 10-20%.

In Japan, recruitment companies, such as Recruit, an IT company, and Yahoo Japan, are already equipped with a system that allows employees to work four days a week at the choice of employees. The government plans to recommend and support this so that it can be widely spread from private companies to the public sector.

It also has the purpose of responding to an aging society. In Japan, a new’Higher Age Employment Security Act’, which stipulates the duty of companies to ensure employment opportunities up to the age of 70 if workers wish, came into force on the 1st. The bill allowed various types of employment, such as freelance contracts, for workers aged 66 and over, but’working four days a week’ is expected to be an alternative.

It is also predicted that if office workers take three days off a week, they will often find new jobs or hobbies in the region, which will help revitalize the local economy.

Companies are also welcoming in that they can reduce labor costs and allow additional hiring, but it can act as a burden on small and medium-sized businesses suffering from labor shortages. In order to reduce the burden, Asahi said, support plans for companies that introduce a three-day holiday system are being reviewed.

Tokyo = Correspondent Lee Young-hee [email protected]