How to ensure that paid annual leave is taken in full? After 18 years, this system affecting 402 million employees is expected to be "renewed"

The “Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees” stipulate: employees who have worked for 1 to 10 years are entitled to 5 days of annual leave; those with 10 to 20 years get 10 days; and employees with over 20 years of service are entitled to 15 days. If leave cannot be arranged due to work needs, the employer should compensate at 300% of the daily wage. This regulation has been in effect since January 2008, for 18 years.

After 18 years, a system that concerns the rest and leave rights of 402 million employees may be “renewed.”

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security stated at a routine press conference that it will promote revisions to the “Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees” to encourage employers to implement the system. The topic of paid annual leave has once again sparked widespread discussion.

In China, employees’ right to paid annual leave dates back to the Labor Law enacted in 1994. On January 1, 2008, the “Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees” officially came into force. The same year, the “Implementation Measures for Paid Annual Leave for Enterprise Employees” was issued, further detailing the rules and forming a relatively complete institutional framework.

A reporter from the Workers’ Daily found in interviews that many employees “want to take leave but are afraid to,” worried about affecting evaluations and promotions. Some companies selectively enforce the rules, exploiting “loopholes” to diminish employees’ rest rights. Experts interviewed said that filling gaps, optimizing supply, and strengthening rigidity are core issues in this revision, aiming to turn “fear of taking leave” into “taking all entitled leave.” This is not only about restoring rights but also about upgrading the system.

Implementation difficulties remain a practical pain point.

Despite years of legal backing, the difficulty of enforcement persists.

“Each position has only one slot, worried about colleagues’ opinions,” “afraid it will affect performance, evaluations, and promotions”… Many employees expressed concerns during interviews.

Data confirms this dilemma: in 2020, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security responded to suggestions from National People’s Congress deputies that the coverage of paid annual leave was about 60%, meaning nearly 40% of employees did not enjoy this statutory right; a December 2024 survey by 51Job showed that nearly 70% of workers did not fully take their annual leave.

Behind the “difficulty in taking leave” are selective enforcement and deliberate exploitation of loopholes by some companies.

Some companies confuse “accumulated seniority” with “seniority in the current company,” resetting past seniority when employees switch jobs; others offset paid annual leave with statutory holidays like maternity or marriage leave; some forcibly fragment annual leave, greatly reducing workers’ rest rights.

How to revise regulations to close loopholes, refine rules, and limit employers’ “maneuvering space” is highly anticipated.

Xiao Zhuzhu, Director of the Scientific Research Department and Dean of the Law School at the China Institute of Labor Relations, pointed out that issues such as standards for calculating seniority, rules for offsetting leave, cross-year leave arrangements, and the legal validity of waiving leave all need clarification, refinement, and regulation through revisions.

In recent years, proposals and suggestions to improve the paid annual leave system have increased at national two sessions, providing references for the system’s revision. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security responded that it will strengthen research on increasing the standards for paid annual leave.

Shen Jianfeng, Director of the Academic Committee of the Law School at the China Institute of Labor Relations, believes that revising the regulations is not simply about “adding” but about ensuring workers’ rest rights while considering enterprise production realities and capacity, designing more precise and feasible systems to truly implement paid annual leave.

The need for stronger enforcement.

The core reason for the difficulty in implementation lies in the system’s rigidity and weak constraints.

“Enhance the legislative level of the ‘Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees’ and clarify that paid annual leave is a statutory labor right,” Xiao Zhuzhu suggested.

He noted that some provincial documents still describe paid annual leave as “an important social welfare system established by the state,” which weakens its legal rights attribute. Additionally, Article 10 of the “Implementation Measures for Paid Annual Leave for Enterprise Employees” states that if an employee, for personal reasons, explicitly requests not to take leave in writing, the employer can pay only the normal wages for the work period.

These “ambiguous areas” leave room for companies to evade legal obligations and increase difficulties for workers to defend their rights.

Analysis of related cases shows that the legal nature of paid leave wages has long been a contentious issue. Some court rulings hold that in the 300% unpaid leave wages, 100% is wages, and the remaining 200% is statutory compensation, subject to a one-year arbitration statute of limitations starting from the day the leave should have been taken but was not.

Shen Jianfeng explained that most workers are reluctant to confront employers while employed and only seek arbitration after leaving, often exceeding the statute of limitations, leading to failed rights protection.

“Employers ‘avoid responsibility for two years,’ greatly weakening the deterrent effect of the system,” Xiao Zhuzhu said.

Experts generally suggest clarifying that unpaid leave wages are wages, applying a special arbitration statute of limitations starting from the day the worker leaves, thereby lowering the threshold for workers to defend their rights.

Strengthening the system’s rigidity also requires truly “longer teeth” in supervision.

Xiao Zhuzhu recommended increasing proactive and targeted labor inspections, punishing companies that refuse to implement paid leave laws according to law. Unions at all levels should fully utilize their legal supervision functions to safeguard workers’ rights.

Wang Tianyu, Deputy Director of the Social Law Research Office at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Law Institute, proposed a flexible approach: encouraging companies to arrange concentrated leave during off-peak production periods through detailed labor management; including the implementation of paid leave in evaluations of harmonious labor relations and enterprise awards, offering incentives like tax reductions and policy support for compliant companies.

This can help unleash workers’ consumption potential.

At this year’s provincial two sessions, provinces like Guizhou, Henan, Shandong, and Hubei explicitly mentioned implementing staggered paid leave policies in government work reports, demonstrating local commitment to advancing paid leave.

In recent years, the value of paid leave has been gradually elevated. The General Office of the State Council issued measures on January 9, 2025, to further cultivate new growth points and promote cultural and tourism consumption, proposing to release workers’ consumption potential by encouraging units and employees to combine paid annual leave with traditional festivals and local特色 activities, arranging staggered leave.

“Leave can unlock workers’ consumption potential and promote healthy economic cycles,” Shen Jianfeng calculated that with an average of 248 working days per year, just the minimum 5-day paid leave for 50 workers could free up one job opportunity.

From the “14th Five-Year Plan” proposals to the 2025 Central Economic Work Conference, the concept of “investing in people” has been repeatedly emphasized. Wang Tianyu sees paid leave as a concrete practice of this idea. Protecting rest rights benefits workers’ physical and mental health, better fulfills social values, and promotes comprehensive human development.

With the rapid development of new business formats, whether workers in emerging employment models should enjoy paid annual leave rights has become an unavoidable topic in this revision.

Guo Shifu, a Beijing ride-hailing driver, told reporters he also wants to take leave but cannot stop working because driving for ride-hailing services means no income if he stops.

Xiao Zhuzhu pointed out that the main challenges for new employment form workers’ paid leave protection are: multiple employment entities and blurred responsibility boundaries, making it difficult to identify who should be responsible for providing leave; income linked to working hours, so taking leave reduces income and objectively affects willingness; and dispersed worker distribution with proof difficulties, making rights protection hard.

He suggested providing tiered and categorized protections: workers with clear labor relations should enjoy statutory paid leave rights; those not fully establishing labor relations should have leave rules linked to their platform working hours and continuity.

Shen Jianfeng stated that China’s new employment models are complex and diverse, and this revision is unlikely to specifically design general rules for new employment workers.