#025_A Proposal for Paid Leave for Employees Who Can't Take Time Off ~The Structural Flaws of Modern Times~
Even though paid leave is a "system for taking time off," in reality, endless reasons for "not being able to take time off" always emerge.
Meetings, documents, progress, preparation, and the problem of "even if I take time off, my mind is still thinking about work." This time, we dug into everything from how to use paid leave (3-day weekends, 2+1, taking Wednesdays off, taking Fridays/Mondays off) to the structural reasons why we can't take time off.
1. Have you taken paid leave lately?
Jellyfish: Have you taken any paid leave lately?
Tomato: The last time I took a day off on a random weekday was a while ago. There was an exhibition at Makuhari Messe, and I took the morning off to go in the afternoon. That was the most recent one.
Jellyfish: I see. Working adults tend to create 3-day weekends by combining "weekends + paid leave," right? So, I think how to use 3-day weekends, or rather, how to use paid leave, is important, and that's what we're talking about today.
2. Paid leave can be a "monthly event"
Jellyfish: It seems the average annual holiday for a regular office worker is about 115 days. If you add 17 to 20 days of paid leave to that, 3-day weekends or taking paid leave becomes a monthly event, essentially.
Tomato: That's true.
Jellyfish: Thinking about it as a "monthly event" over a 40-year career, I thought this is really worth life-hacking.
3. The 2-year expiration date problem for paid leave and the "mysterious leave" conversion
Tomato: Are you actually getting close to 10-20 days of paid leave?
Jellyfish: I am. I got the full amount in my second year after changing jobs. At my previous company, I was a new graduate, so it felt like it increased with the number of years.
Tomato: Have you had any paid leave expire?
Jellyfish: Not yet. I use it all. However, paid leave has a 2-year expiration date, right? If you can't use it up, it converts into a "separate category of leave" that can be used for special reasons like illness, injury, or hospitalization.
Tomato: I didn't know that system existed.
Jellyfish: Originally, that special category is zero. It stays at zero if you use your paid leave normally. But if you can't use it all, the special category accumulates. However, since you basically can't use it anyway, there's no point in it accumulating. People in busy departments say, "I haven't been able to take time off this year either, it won't accumulate any more."
4. The correct answer for "paid leave with no plans": Going to a ramen shop with a long line
Jellyfish: I actually took paid leave just yesterday.
Tomato: On a Friday?
Jellyfish: Right. The reason wasn't because of some big event, but because I was about to hit the limit for 'how much paid leave you should take in a year,' so I took one day.
Tomato: So your company resets on January 1st.
Jellyfish: Ours is special; it resets on December 15th (laughs).
Jellyfish: So, I took the paid leave, but then the 'what to do when you have no plans' problem comes up. This time, I decided on a strategy to go to a ramen shop that usually has a line. But if it's a weekday afternoon, it's empty, and I found a place on Google Maps with a ton of stars. If I go alone on a weekday afternoon and get a counter seat, there's a high chance I can get in without waiting. Plus, 'I already know it's delicious.'
Tomato: Empty restaurants are great, aren't they? It feels like an overwhelming victory.
5. Using 3-Day Weekends vs. Wednesday Off (2+1)
Jellyfish: I took a 3-day weekend this month, but there's also the 2+1 pattern, right?
Tomato: The one where you take Wednesday off.
Jellyfish: Exactly. There's a theory that Wednesday is the easiest on your body.
Tomato: There is.
Jellyfish: I might do the 2+1 pattern more in the summer. Probably because I've been going to the sauna.
Tomato: What do you mean?
Jellyfish: For saunas, it's better to be 'a little tired' than 'completely exhausted'.
Tomato: Because if you go when you're really exhausted, you'll catch a cold.
Jellyfish: And drinking parties after a sauna seem bad for your health too (laughs).
Tomato:: I think they're terrible for you (laughs).
6. Friday Off vs. Monday Off: Which Leaves a Better Aftertaste?
Tomato: For a 3-day weekend, you can take Friday off or Monday off, right? Which one do you prefer?
Jellyfish: That's tough. It depends on what you want to get out of it.
Jellyfish: With the Saturday-Sunday-Monday pattern, there's a risk that starting on Monday the following week will be sluggish. Work-wise, it's easy to fall behind.
Tomato: Indeed.
Tomato: I might be in the 'take Mondays off' camp. It makes the following week only four days, right?
The feeling of 'Paid leave is over, but it's only four days left, so let's do our best' remains.
Jellyfish: I get that. If you take Friday off, you use up the joy of 'it's only four days this week' before the break even starts.
And then, after the paid leave plus the three-day weekend ends, 'five days' appear, and you feel despair (laughs).
Tomato: It feels like taking Mondays off is better because the lingering effect lasts longer.
7. The biggest reason you can't take time off: Too many meetings and documents
Jellyfish: Since I changed jobs, the number of meetings has increased, and it's become harder to take time off.
Tomato: You can't take time off if there are meetings, after all.
I wish salarymen had the flexibility to attend just one important meeting and then take the rest of the time off.
Jellyfish: It's that thing where you become a PowerPoint artisan due to meetings and meeting prep (laughs). Desk work is about 60-70% of it. The time spent designing is still okay, but creating documents is different.
It feels like time just melts away for 'internal reporting documents'.
Tomato: Do you also have progress meetings for development tasks?
Jellyfish: I have those, too. And there are monthly progress reports for the department as well.
It feels like it's effectively every week.
Tomato: Mine were every week, too. You can't take time off, can you?
8. Structural flaws that prevent paid leave from working
Tomato: There are times when you want to touch your computer while relaxing at home, right?
Jellyfish: But now, we're tied up with 'you can't do this, you can't do that.' The rules for working hours have been organized, but there's zero adjustment for output volume. Only the pressure to produce results within the set rules remains.
Tomato: Even when you're not in the office, there's a mental burden, and you end up thinking about work anyway. There's also a feeling that 'you can't do good work' if you're not thinking about it. Japanese work culture tends to demand 'enthusiasm' or a 'constant mindset of thinking about work' even from subordinates.
I feel like in the West, there's a division of labor where the higher-ups might be like that, but the subordinates are completely different.
9. Summary: To take time off, you need a 'way to take time off' and 'a means to clear your head'
Jellyfish: If the people above us were truly amazing, I could believe in them and follow them, but when that's not the case, the feeling of 'are you really the one telling me this?' definitely comes up (laughs).
Since I'm an adult, of course, I don't show it at all.
Tomato: I've trained my poker face at the supermarket, so (laughs).
Detach your feelings and take your time off.
Jellyfish:: There will be dozens, hundreds of opportunities to take paid leave in the future, so I want to find a way to make it work.
Tomato: Hobbies that can completely clear your head or meeting people is important, isn't it?
Jellyfish: So, that's all for this time. Thank you very much.
Tomato: Thank you very much.
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