How Many Days of Paid Leave Do You Get in Japan? | How the Days Are Calculated and When They Start

The two conditions for being granted paid leave

Annual paid leave is a worker’s right set by Article 39 of Japan’s Labour Standards Act. Regardless of the size of the company or whether you are a regular employee, it must be granted once you meet the two conditions below. Even if a company says “we don’t have paid leave”, the legal entitlement does not disappear.

• You have worked continuously for 6 months from the day you were hired (for the second and later grants, for the 1 year since the previous grant date)
• You attended at least 80% of all working days in that period

“Continuous service” is judged by whether you remain employed. The probation period counts, and if you switch from a fixed-term contract to a regular position or are re-employed after retirement age, your years of service carry over as long as you have in practice kept working for the same company.

Days granted by length of service

The days below apply to people who work 5 or more days a week, or 30 or more scheduled hours a week. The grant dates for someone who joined on 1 April are shown alongside.

The days rise by one for the first two years and by two from 3 years 6 months, reaching the maximum of 20 days at 6 years 6 months. The total granted by the seventh year of service is 101 days. Part-time workers who work 4 days or fewer a week and under 30 hours a week get fewer days under the proportional grant; see paid leave days for part-time workers for details.

How the grant date is counted (joining at the end of a month)

The grant date is the corresponding date 6 months after the day you joined. Join on 1 April and it is 1 October; join on 15 July and it is 15 January the following year. Later grants are also counted from the joining date, at 1 year 6 months, 2 years 6 months and so on, not from the previous grant, so the grant date does not drift from year to year.

The confusing case is when the month 6 months later has no matching date. If you join on 31 August, 31 February does not exist 6 months later. Under Article 143 of the Civil Code, which sets how periods are counted, the 6 months end on the last day of that month (28 February), and from the next day, 1 March, you have “worked continuously for 6 months”.

2026 is not a leap year, so anyone who joined between 29 and 31 August gets 1 March as their grant date.

How the 80% attendance rate is counted

The attendance rate is “days attended ÷ all working days”. All working days means the number of days set as working days by the work rules and similar (scheduled working days). The following days are treated as attended even if you were off.

• Days you took annual paid leave
• Days off for treatment of a work-related injury or illness
• Maternity leave before and after childbirth, childcare leave and family care leave
• Days you arrived late or left early (counted as days attended)

On the other hand, days the company shut down for its own reasons and days of a lawful strike are excluded from all working days. If you fall below 80%, for example in a year with a long absence for a personal illness, that grant is 0 days. Your length of service keeps counting, though, so if you attend 80% or more the next year, you are granted the days that match your actual length of service.

Look up your own grant dates and days with the tool

In the Paid Leave Days Calculator, enter your joining date on the “look up days granted” tab and choose your scheduled working days per week. It lists your current length of service, the latest and next grant dates and days, and the date each grant expires under the limitation period. Grant dates for month-end hires follow the same rule as the table above.

How granted leave carries over to the next year and when it expires is covered in paid leave carryover and expiry, and the duty to take 5 days a year for people granted 10 or more days in the duty to take 5 days of paid leave a year. For the number of working days in a year itself, see also working days and holidays in a year.

FAQ

How many months after joining do I get paid leave?

If you work continuously for 6 months from joining and your attendance rate in that period is 80% or more, leave is granted on the corresponding date 6 months later. For people working 5 or more days a week (or 30 or more hours a week) it is 10 days. If you joined on 1 April, your first grant date is 1 October.

What is the maximum paid leave per year?

The legal maximum is 20 days a year at 6 years 6 months of service or more. Unused days from the previous year carry over, so you can hold up to 40 days. If your company grants more than the law requires, you get that number instead.

Does the probation period count towards length of service for paid leave?

Yes. Probation is continuous service from the day you were hired, so the 6 months are counted from the joining date. Counting from the end of probation is wrong.

Is paid leave granted in a year I was on childcare leave?

Yes. Maternity and childcare leave periods are treated as attended in the attendance calculation, so if a grant date falls during childcare leave, the usual number of days is granted.

What happens in a year my attendance is below 80%?

That grant is 0 days. Your length of service still carries over, so if you attend 80% or more the next year, you are granted the days for your length of service at that point (for example 12 days at 2 years 6 months).