The current proposal to overhaul China's national holiday system
has put the feasibility of "paid vacation" in the spotlight as
surveys show it's a "luxury" for most Chinese.
Only about 15.6 percent of respondents to a Xinhuanet.com survey
said they had taken paid vacation this year. Another 13.7 percent
were to take vacation soon, while 70.6 percent would take no time
off.
A similar result was recorded in a China Youth Daily-Sina.com
survey in which 73 percent of the 74,379 respondents said they
never enjoyed "any paid vacation".
In an on-line survey of 5,000 professionals by Chinahr.com, a
human resources website, almost 11 percent said they had "never
heard of any paid vacation" in their companies.
Zhang Tingwen, Chinahr.com vice-president, said more "horrible"
results would occur when workers in small- and medium-sized
enterprises, making up more than 90 percent of the country's
business sector, were surveyed.
"Many companies in China have no system of paid vacation, or the
system is written in employees' manuals but not implemented."
Most companies still held the conventional idea of "work more,
produce more", he added.
Zhang said paid vacation was a luxury for Chinese competing in
an increasingly fierce job market.
"Paid vacation seems the last thing on workers minds as much
more urgent issues need to be addressed, such as working overtime
without payment and employers not paying social security
funds."
An unnamed human resource manager said the feasibility of paid
vacation was closely linked to the country's economic development
and per-capita GDP. "When a country is growing, more work means
more surplus value," he added.
Earlier this month, the government announced a draft overhaul of
its national holiday system. It proposed canceling the May Day
"golden week" and adding three traditional festivals as national
holidays in its place.
The draft was posted on the Internet for public discussion until
Nov. 16. The State Council said it would announce a final overhaul
"hopefully before the end of the year".
An official with a special panel commissioned by the State
Council for the new holiday arrangement said the proposals, which
were aimed at avoiding holiday congestion, would be enacted with
more detailed regulations on paid vacation. It would also ensure
"people have enough time to travel, yet won't be traveling all at
the same time".
A Beijing Federation of Trade Unions spokesman said ensuring
paid vacation showed respect for people's right to rest and would
be an incentive to work harder.
The country's paid vacation system has been in the making for
many years. The State Council, or cabinet, issued a circular on
vacation as early as 1991, saying "employees were entitled to
vacation of up to two weeks".
"Paid vacation" was later enshrined in the Labor Law in 1995,
which, however, only stipulated that "people who have more than a
year of working experience are entitled to paid vacation".
But the lack of a regulation detailing specific implementation
left it unenforceable. Some employees have no paid vacations and
received no compensation.
This has led to growing fear that many people would have greater
difficulty taking compulsory paid vacation if the golden weeks were
adjusted or reduced.
The draft stipulated legal holidays, such as golden weeks and
weekends, would not be included as paid vacation.
Ren Fushan, a legal consultant with the All China Federation of
Trade Unions who was a member of the legislative panel of the Labor
Law, said trade unions should work out detailed plans to ensure
paid vacation was guaranteed and not meddled with by employers.
"I am not in favor of double or triple currency compensation for
unrealized vacation. This is not in line with the spirit of the
Labor Law and an infringement of employees' basic right," Ren
said.
Experts following the proposal predicted the State Council would
promulgate a specific paid vacation plan in the first half of
2008.
(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2007)