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Originally Posted by Nyororin
I`m incredibly curious what makes you think Japan is any different.
Do you REALLY think that people actually USE those national holidays or those paid days off? Excuse me while I take a break to laugh...
No one I know in the US works as much as pretty much everyone I know over here. We`re considered amazing and my husband in a cushy job because he actually usually gets to have Saturday AND Sunday off when things aren`t busy. Most companies don`t get Saturday off - or rather, they get it off but still go to work because you know, you want to keep that job. I`d say around half go in voluntarily (without pay) on Sunday too...
Take a national holiday off instead of coming in to work voluntarily that day? Be prepared to stay the night a couple days afterward to make up for the lost time. Saved up 40 or 50 days of paid leave days is completely normal. Save up too many and you might get an offer from your employer to get a few days with overtime pay to make it LOOK like you`ve used them so that they don`t get in trouble with the government.
Guaranteed in NO WAY means what you are thinking it does. The government SAYS you need to provide those days off - but reality says that almost no one uses them, or if they do they`ll have hell to pay afterward. Volunteer work, and "paper holidays" (overtime paid in exchange for filling out a form saying you used a sick day or holiday) do not show up on charts as days worked.
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Thank you. My experience is almost exactly the same. I know many guys that work in offices in Japan that get frustrated that their secretaries take two or three weeks off a year, but they cannot use their paid holidays. Ever. (Well, maybe they can after 15 or 20 years with the company).