Should employees get ‘unhappy leave’? Boss at Chinese company lets workers take up to ten days off a year if they’re feeling sad and ‘need to relax’

A company in China has introduced a groundbreaking new policy to ensure employees achieve a better work-life balance. Should UK companies adopt this policy too?

Yu Donglai, founder and chairman of retail chain Pang Dong Lai, has introduced an “unhappy leave” scheme, allowing employees to request an additional 10 days off if they suffer from mental health issues.

The new policy is part of a broader effort to prioritize employee well-being and comes with other benefits, such as a seven-hour workday and 30 to 40 days of vacation per year.

In the UK, Labour this week announced it is considering a “right to switch off” plan, which would make it easier for workers to draw the line between work and personal life.

As the party stated in its campaign promise, employees who are constantly approached by their bosses outside working hours may be entitled to compensation.

The government wants to draw up a code of conduct that sets out normal working hours and clearly indicates when an employee can be called by his employer.

The policy, which is believed to be spearheaded by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Raynor, includes the right for workers to refuse to do extra work at weekends or to carry out work-related tasks during their annual leave.

Pushy bosses who repeatedly breach the agreement could be taken to employment tribunals and forced to pay thousands of pounds in damages.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in China, it is up to employers to help employees find a good work-life balance. But the idea of ​​“unhappy leave” may be catching on.

According to South China Morning PostThe company behind it, Pang Dong Lai, currently employs 7,000 workers and every one of them will benefit from Yu’s recently introduced ‘unhappy leave’.

The policy ensures that employees can request 10 additional days of leave, so that they can determine their own rest periods and have sufficient relaxation outside of work.

In addition to the weekends off and the 30 to 40 days of annual leave, employees are also entitled to five additional days off during the Chinese New Year.

Yu said, “We don’t want to be big. We want our employees to have a healthy and relaxed life, so that the company can have that too. Freedom and love are very important.

Yu Donglai (pictured), founder and chairman of the Pang Dong Lai retail chain, has introduced an ‘unhappy leave’ scheme, allowing employees to apply for an additional ten days of leave

In addition to weekends off and 30 to 40 days of annual leave, Yu’s employees are also entitled to an additional five days off during the Chinese New Year.

“I want every employee to have freedom. Everyone has moments when they’re not happy, so if you’re not happy, don’t come to work.”

He added: ‘This leave cannot be refused by management. Refusal is an offence.’

The idea has now received a lot of support on social media in China, with people praising the company on the Weibo platform.

Someone wrote: ‘Such a good boss and this corporate culture should be promoted nationwide.’

The pursuit of a better work-life balance is becoming increasingly a topic of conversation as reports show that work-related stress remains a major problem in the UK.

The Labour government wants to introduce the ‘right to switch off’ in a plan believed to be led by Deputy First Minister Angela Raynor (pictured)

According to Champion HealthThe most common cause of stress in the UK is work-related, with 79 per cent of Britons saying they suffer from it regularly.

In the UK, 13.7 million working days were lost each year in 2022 due to work-related stress, anxiety and depression, at an annual cost of £28.3 billion.

As the UK government considers the Labour Party’s ‘right to switch off’ proposal, the question arises: should the concept of ‘unhappy leave’ also be explored?

A London-based influencer recently revealed her top three tips for surviving a traditional ‘nine-to-five’ corporate job.

Ells’ video, known on TikTok as @ellsatthedisco, has been viewed by nearly 13,000 people in a week.

The influencer explained that her top suggestion is to delete work-related apps from your personal phone, including Teams, Slack, and emails.