Japanese Company Offers Extra Vacation To Cut Out Smoke Breaks
- 6 years ago
Would you quit smoking for extra vacation?
Non-smokers at this Japanese marketing firm are being rewarded with an extra week of paid leave. But it's not just promoting health — they want workers to stay at their desks longer. About one-third of the company's employees take cigarette breaks, which non-smokers saw as unfair. After anonymous, complaints, the company added the non-smoking incentive, claiming it as both a health initiative and a productivity booster.
But some employees may fear using the extra time off. Japan's work culture is rigidly unforgiving. The average employee uses only half of their annual paid leave, and 20% of citizens work over 80 hours of overtime each month, leading to thousands of suicides each year.
Non-smokers at this Japanese marketing firm are being rewarded with an extra week of paid leave. But it's not just promoting health — they want workers to stay at their desks longer. About one-third of the company's employees take cigarette breaks, which non-smokers saw as unfair. After anonymous, complaints, the company added the non-smoking incentive, claiming it as both a health initiative and a productivity booster.
But some employees may fear using the extra time off. Japan's work culture is rigidly unforgiving. The average employee uses only half of their annual paid leave, and 20% of citizens work over 80 hours of overtime each month, leading to thousands of suicides each year.