My wish to take my child to visit Harbin Ice and Snow World before the Spring Festival has not been fulfilled for two years. As someone who works at a research institution in Chaoyang District, Beijing, he has not been able to take paid annual leave during this period. Unit leaders stated that most employees take concentrated vacations in July and August. Before the Spring Festival, many scientific research projects enter the stage of completion and report writing, and work tasks are tight. In addition, with the approaching Spring Festival holiday, there is no need for vacation. The child is still young, there are many people at summer attractions, and they don't get into conflicts with their leaders. Therefore, they can only temporarily give up their annual leave. ”There are many employees like Zhuli who find it difficult to independently arrange paid annual leave time. Although laws and regulations such as the Labor Law and the Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") have already clarified the annual leave system, many employees admit that whether they can enjoy this benefit depends on the "face" of the unit. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recently stated that it will promote the revision of regulations and urge employers to implement the system. How to transform paid leave from a "paper welfare" into practical protection and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of workers has attracted much attention. Li Man has been working at an education and training institution in Beijing for 5 years. She said that according to regulations, she has 5 days of annual leave every year, but she has never taken one. The competition in the workplace is fierce, and everything depends on performance. The daily work schedule is always full, not to mention annual leave and marriage leave, "said Li Man. Zhao Zhong, Dean of the School of Labor and Human Resources at Renmin University of China, believes that the underlying reason for the difficulty in implementing paid leave is the "shame of vacation" formed at the social level, as well as the misconception that "overtime means dedication". To truly implement paid leave, it requires both institutional and regulatory safeguards, as well as guiding companies and workers to understand that leave is a legal right of workers and a win-win choice for both companies and workers. This will encourage workers to take leave and encourage companies to implement it. Work life balance is the core essence of high-quality employment, and paid leave is a key link in achieving this balance. It is not an additional demand, but an equally important legal right as wages and compensation, which should be enjoyed with peace of mind by workers. ”Zhao Zhong said. According to the regulations implemented since 2008, employees who have worked for a total of 1 year but less than 10 years are entitled to 5 days of annual leave; For those who have been on vacation for 10 to 20 years, they will have an annual leave of 10 days; For those who have been in office for 20 years, they are entitled to 15 days of annual leave. If the unit cannot arrange leave due to work needs, the annual leave salary shall be paid at 300% of the employee's daily wage income. Zhao Zhong stated that the regulations not only clarify the number of vacation days and compensation standards for unused vacation days, but also make specific provisions for government supervision, corporate penalties, labor dispute resolution, etc., and also take into account special circumstances such as major business matters of enterprises and cross year vacations. In his opinion, the focus of this regulation revision is not on adding new rules, but on improving the system and mechanism around the implementation, so that existing regulations can be put into practice. It is understood that some companies negotiate with employees to exchange annual leave for compensation, but the subsidy standards are mostly determined by the companies themselves. Lin Yang, the manager of a restaurant in Haidian District, Beijing, said that due to high daily customer flow, employees who do not take annual leave can receive a subsidy of 200 yuan per day. "The subsidy standard is low, but I don't know where to complain. In order not to tear my face, I can only passively accept it." According to the regulations, if employees cannot be arranged to take annual leave due to work needs, they can be exempted from taking leave with their consent. For the number of annual leave days that an employee should have taken but has not yet taken, the annual leave salary shall be paid at 300% of the employee's daily wage income. Zhao Zhong believes that the human resources and social security departments at or above the county level should strictly follow the requirements of the regulations, shift from "passive litigation" to normalized active supervision and inspection, rather than just intervening in workers' rights protection. Zhao Zhong suggested that each region should annually collect core data such as the actual proportion of paid leave enjoyed by employees within its jurisdiction, the compensation ratio for unused annual leave according to legal standards, and the number of uncompensated enterprises. The implementation of paid leave should be included in the core indicators of people's livelihood development and published in the government work report, in order to solidify government regulatory responsibilities through quantitative indicators. Zhao Zhong also suggested that in the revision of the regulations, government regulatory responsibilities should be strengthened, and for enterprises that neither arrange leave nor pay compensation, measures such as ordering them to make corrections within a specified time limit, recovering compensation, and applying to the people's court for compulsory enforcement in accordance with the law can be taken. Wang Tianyu, Deputy Director of the Social Law Research Office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the vacation system should avoid a "one size fits all" approach, implement differentiated arrangements, adapt to different types of enterprises, and balance business operations and worker rights. Wang Tianyu analyzed that the current labor rights protection regulations in China apply to all employers as a whole. Small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as individual businesses, find it difficult to bear the same vacation costs as large enterprises, government agencies, and public institutions, resulting in some enterprises being caught in a dilemma of "protecting operation" or "protecting welfare". It is necessary to explore the establishment of a reasonable cost sharing mechanism for small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses, and to synchronously support measures to protect the rights and interests of workers. It is not enough to simply require enterprises to implement vacations. The government should share the vacation costs of small and micro enterprises through tax reductions, financial subsidies, and other means. ”Wang Tianyu said, "Only by adapting the vacation system to the actual development of enterprises can paid vacation be transformed from a 'mandatory requirement' to a 'voluntary action' by enterprises." It is worth noting that many places have recently synchronized the implementation of employee vacation policies when promoting primary and secondary school spring and autumn vacations. In early February, the government work report submitted for review at the Fourth Session of the 14th People's Congress of Anhui Province proposed to implement the paid staggered leave system, establish spring and autumn leave for primary and secondary schools, and expand employee cultural and sports consumption. Jiangsu Province will also prioritize the implementation of paid staggered leave and the establishment of spring and autumn leave for primary and secondary schools in 2026. Wang Tianyu believes that paid leave can force companies to improve their human resources management and clarify job allocation plans. The government should introduce policies to encourage companies to implement flexible and staggered leave, and promote the precise connection between employee leave and primary and secondary school spring and autumn leave. From a social perspective, paid leave is not only an important welfare for people's livelihoods, but also an important lever to drive consumption and promote balanced economic development. Linking with the spring and autumn holidays of primary and secondary schools can effectively solve the pain points of 'parents' difficulty in taking leave for their children', release household consumption demand, divert peak tourist flow, and promote sustained activity in the consumer market. ”Zhao Zhong said. (New Society)