Japan creates new national holiday for ‘overworked’ population

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/japan-creates-new-national-holiday-for--overworked--population-214042766.html

By Eric Pfeiffer

May 24, 2014 6:25 PM

Around this time each year, millions of Americans are enjoying a three-day weekend heading into Memorial Day.

Memorial Day: 陣亡將士紀念日

It’s one of just 10 national holidays for a country that prides itself on a world-renowned work ethic.

to pride oneself on …: 自傲於…

But in Japan, the country’s government just unveiled their 16th national holiday. So, is Japan a holiday happy nation compared to its American counterparts? Not exactly.

Officially beginning on August 11 2016, “Mountain Day” was ostensibly created to recognizeJapan’s culturally significant mountainous regions. But The Diplomat reports that the holiday was actually most likely created to put a dent in Japan’s “overworked” population that largely refuses to use its government protected vacation time. A recent Wall Street Journal claims that the average Japanese worker only uses 8.6 of their paid vacation days each year.

ostensibly /ɑs`tɛnsəblɪ/ (ad) 表面上地

recognize (v) 表彰

to put a dent in …: 加些許影響於…

"In Japan, there is of course paid vacation, but people don't take it," Seishiro Eto, a member of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party that led support for the new holiday, told the WSJ. "I hope with Mountain Day, people will be able to take more of their vacation."

By comparison, workers in the U.S. use an average of 10 of their 14 paid vacation days each year. However, a 2013 “ Vacation Deprivation Study” from Expedia.com says that still amounts to a staggering 577,212,000 unused annual vacation days in the U.S.

And the workaholic approach may not even be as effective as some think. After all, French workers have the largest amount of guaranteed time off of any major industrialized nation yet their worker productivity is also amongst the world’s highest.

 “When you have a longer working day, at some point because you’re becoming tired, it decreases your productivity,” French economist Renaud Bourlès told BusinessWeek.

at some point: 某程度

Nonetheless, mandatory vacation days may not be a perfect solution. The Diplomat notes that mandatory holidays can create headaches for a workforce all taking the day off together. In theory, when employees voluntarily choose their vacation days the dip in the workforce is more evenly distributed over the year. But when everyone is taking the same national holidays cities are left with congested roads and overbooked flights during what is meant as a window of relaxation.

nonetheless (ad) 然而

workforce (n) 勞動力全體

dip (n) 輕微下降

In the U.S. 77 percent of all private companies offer paid vacation and holidays although federal law does not require them to do so. That’s still better than Japan, where most workers are not paid for their mandatory holiday days off.

The concept of being overworked is so prevalent in Japan that the country has its own word for people who die of heart attacks and other ailments directly attributed to excessive labor – Karoshi. The word literally translates to mean “death from over work.”

In recent years, Karoshi has broadened its meaning to include Japanese “salarymen” who commit suicide as a result of the emotional distress from working too much and under uncertain conditions. A 2012 Pulitzer Center investigation outlined a scenario that might sound unsettlingly familiar to many American workers:

prevalent /ˋprɛvələnt. (a) 普遍的

distress (n) 苦惱

outline (v) 概述

unsettlingly (ad) 令人不安地

“With the recession of the 1990s, many Japanese companies departed from the tradition of lifetime employment and went through massive layoffs, replacing costly full-time workers with low-paid temporary workers who have no benefits or job security. As a result, salarymen increasingly work longer hours because of a shortage of manpower and the fear of losing jobs.”

中譯

每年這時節, 上百萬美國人正享受陣亡將士紀念日前的3天周末假期.

它是這僅有的10個國定假日中的一個, 在這個自傲於擁有世界知名的工作倫理制度的國家.

不過在日本, 政府才公布了他們的第16個國定假日. 所以與美國比較, 日本是假期多多的快樂國度?不盡然.

將於2016年8月11日正式施行的”山岳日”表面上是來表彰日本文化上有象徵意義的山岳區域.但Diplomat雜誌報導, 這個假期實際上是要來對日本的過勞人口做點改變, 因為大部分人是拒絕使用政府保障的休假來休息的. 近來一篇華爾街日報指出日本勞工每年平均只使用8.6天的給薪假期.

“在日本, 理所當然有給薪假, 只是大家不願休假.”日本自民黨員Seishiro Eto對華爾街日報表示. 該黨帶頭支持新假日的成立. 我希望藉山岳日, 大家可以休多點假.

相較之下, 美國勞工每年平均使用14天給薪假中的10天. 然而, 一份2013年Expedia.com的”假期剝奪報告”指出, 累積起來每年沒有使用的假期還是達到577,212,000日這驚人的數字.

工作狂的生活方式可能並沒有想像的有效率. 畢竟, 法國勞工有較其他主要已開發國家最多的保證休假, 而該國勞動產出同時亦是世界最高.

“當你工作更長時間, 到某程度, 因為你變疲勞了, 工作效率會下降,”法國經濟學家Renaud Bourlès對商業週刊表示.

儘管如此, 強制休假可能仍不是最佳解決辦法. Diplomat雜誌指出強制假期可能會造成大問題, 當全體勞動力在同時間休假. 理論上, 勞工自由選擇休假, 會讓整年裡勞動力減少的情形較平均分布.但若每個人國定假期同時都休息, 大城市會交通阻塞, 航班超訂, 讓本來該屬於悠閒假期的這段期間走樣.

在美國, 百分之77的私人企業提供給薪的假期, 儘管聯邦法律沒有強制要求. 這樣仍是比日本好, 因為他們很多強制的休假是沒有給薪的.

過度工作的概念在日本是很普遍的, 以致創造出一個獨有的詞彙 - 過勞死, 指因心臟病及其他可以直接歸因於過度勞動的傷病而死亡的人. 過勞死字面上翻譯即是“過度勞動而死”.

近年來, 過勞死定義擴大, 包含因工作過久情緒受創而自殺, 以及某些不良環境致死的雇員. 一份2012年普立茲中心調查, 描繪了一種情景, 是許多美國人不安且熟悉的:

“90年代的經濟衰退以來, 許多日本公司離棄終身僱傭制的傳統並進行多次大規模解雇, 用低成本的臨時雇員代替成本昂貴的全職員工, 臨時雇員是沒有福利或保障的. 其結果是, 由於人力短缺加上被解雇的恐懼, 受薪階級工時逐漸增加.”

Discussion:

How do you maintain the work-life balance?