Not “patching” vacations together is favored abroad.
The national holiday office’s survey on the arrangement of statutory holidays recently concluded. Internet survey results showed that most netizens were dissatisfied with the current arrangements, especially reacting strongly to the practice of “moving two days to make a three-day break.” “Chinese-style vacations” have been widely criticized, “Golden Weeks” have turned into “Golden Porridges,” and “benefits” have become “burdens.” Looking globally, what are the regulations, implementations, and reactions in developed countries in Europe, America, and Asia when it comes to taking time off?
Survey shows
Chinese-style vacations
“Moving” and “patching” holidays in a one-size-fits-all manner
“Traffic jams during every holiday” repeatedly fall into a vicious cycle
The newly released “Questionnaire on the Arrangement of Statutory Holidays” by the National Holiday Office attracted 2.11 million netizens to participate in the vote as of 17:00 on October 12. More than half of the netizens expressed dissatisfaction with the current holiday arrangements. Over the more than ten years since the implementation of the Golden Week system, it has brought widespread joy but also a series of problems such as overcrowded scenic spots, traffic congestion, and declining travel quality.
The public was once delighted to have such long holidays for travel, leisure, and shopping. Objectively, the Golden Week has played a very significant role in stimulating domestic consumption such as tourism. However, the Golden Week is not an actual “increase” in holidays, but rather a nationwide, one-size-fits-all “moving” and “patching” of holidays. As the entire nation travels en masse, the Golden Week has also fallen into the vicious cycle of “traffic jams during every holiday.” Whether it’s traffic jams on the road or at scenic spots, during a Golden Week, hundreds of millions of people end up “paying to suffer.”
Lu Hanlong, Vice President of the Chinese Society of Sociology, said that the current vacation system is entirely regulated by the government, with too strong a flavor of a planned economy. The one-size-fits-all “moved holidays” that patch together the so-called Golden Weeks not only eliminate the possibility of diverse choices but also only stimulate relatively low-end consumption in tourism and related fast-moving consumer goods. The losses caused by this are immeasurable.
Five sample countries
How many holidays per year
Germany
In addition to the 104 weekend days off per year, Germany’s Federal Vacation Act stipulates that each person is entitled to at least 24 working days of paid vacation per year. Together with other statutory holidays, Germany’s total holidays exceed 150 days.
Netherlands
Dutch law clearly specifies vacation days for different types of work. For example, media workers in the Netherlands are entitled to 25 paid vacation days per year, including additional holiday allowances provided by employers. University researchers in the Netherlands can get up to 40 paid vacation days, plus an 8% annual salary holiday allowance, equivalent to one month’s salary.
United States
The United States has few federal statutory holidays, totaling just 10 days. There is no mandatory requirement for the number of paid vacation days in the U.S., but people generally have a strong awareness of taking time off, and companies also tend to arrange holidays quite conscientiously—typically offering at least 15 days.
South Korea
South Korea has a total of 16 statutory holidays per year, including the 3-day Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays. In addition, South Koreans are entitled to 15 to 25 paid vacation days per year. Including weekends, South Koreans can enjoy 132 to 142 days off per year.
Japan
Japan has 15 statutory holidays per year. The law states that employees who have worked continuously for more than six months are entitled to 10 paid vacation days per year. Afterward, the number of vacation days increases proportionally with seniority.
Long breaks
How to combine them for maximum relaxation
Germany
Flexibly adjusting leave around children’s holidays
The most notable feature of German vacations is flexibility. German law allows people to split and arrange their vacation dates according to their personal circumstances. Employees can negotiate the timing of their paid leave with their employer in advance.
Families with children usually choose school summer and winter breaks. To this end, German companies and institutions not only prioritize employees with younger children when scheduling time off but also confirm vacation plans two to three months in advance and make appropriate adjustments for summer work. To alleviate traffic pressure during holidays, German schools also stagger their vacation schedules. The 16 German states have different school holiday periods, using a rotation system. Flexible travel times help reduce overcrowding at attractions and on roads. Although German holidays are long and varied, traffic jams and overly crowded attractions are rarely seen.
Netherlands
No need to work overtime to piece together holidays
The Dutch never work consecutive overtime or adjust weekends just for vacation. Unlike the Chinese practice of cobbling together three-day mini-breaks, the Dutch often freely split their long holidays. Take Dutch journalist Brink as an example. In the first half of this year, she spent a week traveling in Germany with friends on a “short trip,” and then drove with her family to Eastern Europe for a four-week vacation in the summer.
United States
Mini-breaks + personal annual leave
For Americans, the two major federal holidays in late November (Thanksgiving) and late December (Christmas) mark the annual “holiday season.” Many workers choose to take leave around Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s, combining the short end-of-year holiday with their personal paid leave to extend their time off, fully relax, spend time with family, or go on long-distance trips.
Mini-breaks
How to adjust them most efficiently
United States
Golden weekends are great for travel
The U.S. has only 10 federal holidays, but they are evenly distributed. Interestingly, more than half of U.S. federal holidays fall on Mondays, which can be combined with the weekend to form a “golden weekend.” Many Americans choose to take short trips during these golden weekends. Additionally, if New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day, Christmas, or Inauguration Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the holiday is observed either the previous Friday or the following Monday, also creating a “long weekend.”
South Korea
No artificial creation of Golden Weeks
In South Korea, if a public holiday overlaps with the weekend (Saturday or Sunday), no additional day off is given. However, exceptions are made for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and Lunar New Year, when an extra day is granted. This year, for Chuseok, Koreans enjoyed a five-day golden holiday: from the day before Chuseok (Wednesday, September 18) to Sunday, September 22.
When public holidays do not align with the weekend, the government generally does not artificially combine them. Individuals can flexibly use their paid annual leave to make up for this and create longer breaks.
Japan
Creating “three-day weekends”
Japan has 15 public holidays per year. The country’s traditional major holiday periods are: New Year’s and the surrounding days off, Golden Week in May, and Obon in August. During these three major holiday times, all forms of transportation in Japan—land, sea, and air—are packed, with hundreds of millions of people traveling back and forth. In 2000, Japan introduced the “Happy Monday System,” shifting four holidays such as Coming of Age Day from fixed dates to floating ones—all set on Mondays—to create “three-day weekends” with Saturday and Sunday. The appearance of multiple three-day weekends throughout the year not only alleviates the immense pressure on transportation during traditional major holidays but also boosts further prosperity in the tertiary industries such as tourism and dining.
Unused vacation days
What to do
Considering that taking too much time off is too long, some Dutch even wish to give up vacation days for more salary. But Dutch tax law stipulates that if you give up vacation to work overtime, your annual income will increase, but you will also pay more income tax—making it not worth it. Therefore, in the Netherlands, very few people work overtime during their holidays.
The German government encourages people to take paid leave and does not provide financial compensation to employees who voluntarily give it up. If an employee does not use all their leave within the year, the remaining days must be taken by the following March at the latest.
Americans can use their paid vacation all at once within a year or split it into multiple uses as needed. For employees who can’t take leave due to company financial constraints, the company provides corresponding financial compensation based on their salary.
Editor’s note
“Golden Week”
Fading benefits
Reform is expected
Relying solely on a one-size-fits-all holiday system design makes it hard to meet the diverse vacation needs of residents. If we continue with the old mindset of “government-run” and “department-decided” approaches, no matter how the holiday system is arranged, it will be difficult to truly satisfy the increasingly diverse vacation demands.
The public’s holiday needs are no longer about simply “having” them, but more about having “better”