(CRIENGLISH.com)
Updated: 2007-11-07 17:26

Good news for all employees: the government is drafting a statute to allow all workers to have an annual paid vacation. It is hoped the new regulation will change the way people enjoy their life.

If you have been working all year round, nonstop, time to take a break.

The state council is soliciting ideas from the public on the draft, which allows workers to get five days a year in paid leave, if they've worked for the same employer for one year, and 10 days in total after 10 years.

Vacation remain a luxury for employees from most private companies. Some employers simply do not write it into their contracts. Zhao Lingzhi has been working as a web editor for over one year. There is an unwritten rule that people could ask for a leave of absence if they do have something urgent to deal with, but she never did it.

"I haven't tried to ask for personal leave, I'm afraid it will affect the work of the whole team. Usually, my rest time is the weekend."

Her travel plans now pin on the public holidays in May and October, which are better known as Golden Weeks.

But the problem is there are too many people counting on the precious two weeks. Alex has been working in a private company in Beijing for three years. He likes to travel around, and he needs to make do with it despite the crowds.

"Usually, a longer period of rest time only comes from the May Day holidays and National Day holidays and I could go a little farther. But I'd been jammed for four hours on highway once when I was driving to somewhere. Apart from traffic difficulty, it is not easy to park or to find a hotel. And all hotels and restaurants are raising their prices. "

Figures from the National Holiday Office indicate from 2001 to 2006, about one in four people in China traveled during the golden weeks.

Tired and crowded are most frequently used words to describe the traveling experiences. Therefore, voices are getting louder calling to give vacations to workers, so that they could better arrange their time.

But the laws have always been there.

The Labor Contract Law stipulates employees who have worked for more than one year should enjoy paid vacation. The Civil Servants Law adopted in January 2006 also grants workers annual paid vacation.

But the lack of enforcement makes paid vacation a "paper right".

The new draft is expected to bring a lot of changes to people with no vacations, but it doesn't bring much difference to Lu Wei, who works in a Swedish cargo company in Shanghai.

"I have 14 paid vacation days a year, but it is unlikely that we could take them all together, the job requires us to be there no matter if it is holiday or not, it is a luxury if I could get two or three days off in a row."

She says the reason is simple, each one in her company takes charge of certain part of work, if she takes off, there is no immediate replacement.