Japan’s Duty to Take 5 Days of Paid Leave a Year | Who It Covers, the Deadline and How Days Are Counted
Since April 2019, companies in Japan must make sure that anyone granted 10 or more days of paid leave a year takes at least 5 of them. This guide covers who the duty applies to, how the deadline for taking the 5 days is counted, how half days, hourly leave and planned leave are treated, how the company designates leave dates, and the penalties if the rule is not followed.
What the duty to take 5 days a year means
Under the Work Style Reform laws, Article 39(7) was added to Japan’s Labour Standards Act in April 2019. Since then the company (employer) must have any worker who is granted 10 or more days of annual paid leave at once take 5 days within 1 year of the grant date. The duty rests on the company, so if a worker does not take the days, the company is responsible.
Days the worker requested and took, and days taken under planned leave set by a labour-management agreement, count towards the 5 days. If those do not reach 5, the company designates dates after hearing the worker’s views and has the worker take leave on them (designated timing).
Who is covered
The duty covers people whose grant that time was 10 days or more. Managers in supervisory positions and fixed-term workers are included.
| Work pattern | When the duty starts |
|---|---|
| 5 or more days a week, or 30 or more hours a week | From the first grant (10 days) 6 months after joining |
| 4 days a week and under 30 hours a week | From the grant at 3 years 6 months of service (10 days) |
| 3 days a week and under 30 hours a week | From the grant at 5 years 6 months of service (10 days) |
| 2 days a week or fewer and under 30 hours a week | Not covered, because the grant never reaches 10 days |
Even if carried-over days from the previous year bring you to 10 or more, you are not covered when this year’s grant is under 10 days. Grants for part-time workers are listed in paid leave days for part-time workers.
The deadline for taking the 5 days
The deadline is within 1 year of the day the 10 or more days were granted, that is, by the day before the next grant date. For someone working 5 days a week who joined on 1 April, it looks like this.
| Grant date | Days granted | Deadline for taking 5 days |
|---|---|---|
| 1 October 2024 | 10 days | 30 September 2025 |
| 1 October 2025 | 11 days | 30 September 2026 |
| 1 October 2026 | 12 days | 30 September 2027 |
The deadline is counted from each person’s own grant date, not from an April–March business year or the calendar year. If someone who joined on 1 April 2025 has taken only 3 days between the first grant (1 October 2025, 10 days) and 24 September 2026, they need to take 2 more days by 30 September.
What counts towards the 5 days and what does not
| Type of leave | Counts towards 5 days? |
|---|---|
| Paid leave the worker requested and took | Yes |
| Days using leave carried over from the previous year | Yes |
| Days taken under planned leave | Yes |
| Half-day paid leave | Yes, as 0.5 days |
| Hourly paid leave | No |
| Company special leave (summer holidays and similar) | No |
Special leave such as summer holidays or refresh leave is separate from paid leave, so it is not included in the 5 days. Abolishing existing special leave and replacing it with paid leave is considered undesirable, because it may be a disadvantageous change to working conditions.
What the company must do, and the penalties
- If the company fails to have a worker take 5 days a year, the fine is up to 300,000 yen (Labour Standards Act Article 120). Each covered worker is treated as a separate violation
- To designate dates, the company must write the covered workers and the method of designation into its work rules. Designating dates without doing so is also subject to a fine of up to 300,000 yen
- When designating dates, the company hears the worker’s views and makes efforts to follow their wishes as far as possible
- The company keeps an annual paid leave register (grant date, number of days and the days taken) for 5 years (3 years for the time being). The retention periods and start dates of other labour records, such as wage ledgers and attendance records, are listed in document retention periods and when they start
From the worker’s point of view, the 5 days are the minimum you are guaranteed to be allowed to take. If there are days you want off, applying early means the company will not have to pick the dates for you.
How to run designated dates and planned leave
Companies use two main approaches so that nobody falls short of 5 days. In both cases, the total including days the worker took on their own only has to reach 5; there is no need to designate more than that.
- 1
Make a plan at the grant date
Asking each worker at the grant date when they plan to take leave during the year avoids a rush near the deadline. The basic step is to keep the register so that leave taken can be seen for each grant date.
- 2
Check what remains a few months before the deadline
Six or three months before the deadline, list the workers who have not reached 5 days and encourage them to take leave.
- 3
Designate dates for those who fall short
After hearing the worker’s wishes, the company designates dates for the remaining days. Designated days count towards the 5 days as days the worker took.
- 4
Use planned leave
With a labour-management agreement, dates for the part of paid leave above 5 days can be set in advance for everyone to take together, for example around the Obon holidays or the New Year. Days taken under planned leave count towards the 5 days.
Only the part of each person’s paid leave above 5 days can be used for planned leave; at least 5 days must remain for the worker to use freely. For someone granted 10 days, at most 5 can be planned leave.
Check this year’s deadline and remaining days with the tool
On the “look up days granted” tab of the Paid Leave Days Calculator, each grant in the schedule shows whether the 5-day duty applies and the deadline for taking the 5 days. On the “remaining days and carryover” tab, enter the days used this year to see whether this year’s 5 days are done and how many are still missing.
When unused leave expires is explained in paid leave carryover and expiry, and how grant dates themselves are counted in how many days of paid leave you get and when.
FAQ
- From when to when must the 5 days be taken?
- Within 1 year of the day 10 or more days of paid leave were granted. For someone who joined on 1 April and was granted leave on 1 October, the 5 days must be taken by 30 September the next year. It is counted from each person’s grant date, not the calendar year or the company’s fiscal year.
- Do half days and hourly leave count towards the 5 days?
- Paid leave taken in half days counts as 0.5 days. Hourly paid leave does not count, so even 8 hours taken in hourly units are not counted towards the 5 days.
- Is the worker penalised for not taking the 5 days?
- The penalty applies to the company; the worker is never penalised. The company must designate dates, after hearing their views, for workers who look unlikely to reach 5 days.
- Does the 5-day duty cover part-time workers?
- Yes, if a single grant is 10 days or more. People working 4 days a week and under 30 hours reach a 10-day grant at 3 years 6 months of service, and people working 3 days a week at 5 years 6 months, at which point they are covered. People working 2 days a week or fewer are not covered.
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