- Move has been introduced to help foster a healthy work-life balance
- Employees can claim up to 10 days of additional leave in the scheme
- ‘Unhappy leave’ requests cannot be denied by management
A business in China has introduced the concept of ‘unhappy leave’ for its employees, which allows them to claim up to 10 days of extra leave per year to take when they aren’t feeling good.
Unhappy? Don’t go to work
‘Unhappy leave’ is the brainchild of Yu Donglai, the founder and chairman of supermarket chain Pang Dong Lai. It acknowledges that everybody sometimes has periods when they aren’t happy and, if so, they should not come to work – and employees can choose their own rest time.
In addition, managers must acquiesce to an employee’s request for unhappy leave. “Denial is a violation,” said Yu, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
The up to 10 days of ‘unhappy leave’ employees can take are in addition to 30 days of annual leave and five days off for the lunar new year – both being rare for Chinese businesses. Employees also work seven-hour days at Pang Dong Lai and do not work weekends. There are also bonus schemes to help employees boost their pay packets.
Against long hours
“We do not want to be big. We want our employees to have a healthy and relaxed life, so that the company will too,” Yu told the South China Morning Post. “Freedom and love are very important.”
Yu has long been a vocal critic of the culture among bosses in China to want employees to work long hours, saying that making staff work overtime is unethical.
Pang Dong Lai was set up in 1995 in Henan Province, China, and has grown to employ more than 7,000 people in supermarkets, warehouses and electronics stores.
