Paid Leave for Part-Time Workers in Japan: How Many Days at 3 or 4 Days a Week
Part-time and casual workers in Japan get paid leave too if they meet the conditions. This article covers the pro-rated grant, where the days depend on your weekly working days and hours, a lookup table for 1 to 4 days a week and by annual working days, the 30-hour line that gives you the same days as a full-time employee, how to judge shift work or a change in working days, and when the 5-day annual obligation applies.
Part-time and casual workers get paid leave too
The conditions for paid leave are the same for full-time, part-time and casual workers: 6 months of continuous service and attendance of at least 80%. What the job is called doesn't matter. What differs is the number of days: people who work fewer days get proportionally less paid leave. This is called a pro-rated grant.
The pro-rated grant applies to people whose scheduled weekly hours are under 30 and who meet either of the following (Article 24-3 of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Standards Act).
- Scheduled working days of 4 or fewer per week
- If days are set on a basis other than weekly, scheduled working days of 216 or fewer per year
For dispatched workers, paid leave is granted by the staffing agency that employs them, not the client company. Even if the client changes, service is added together as long as employment with the same agency continues without a break. If there's a gap between the end of one contract and the start of the next, whether it counts as continuous service depends on the length of the gap and the actual circumstances.
Treatment such as "part-timers don't get paid leave" or "if you take paid leave, we'll cut your shifts" is illegal. You also don't have to give a reason for taking leave. A company can ask you to change the date only when your absence that day would interfere with the normal operation of the business.
Lookup table for pro-rated grants
These are the days granted by scheduled weekly days (or annual days) and length of service.
| Weekly days (annual days) | 6 months | 1 yr 6 mo | 2 yr 6 mo | 3 yr 6 mo | 4 yr 6 mo | 5 yr 6 mo | 6 yr 6 mo or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular (5+ days a week, 217+ days) | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 |
| 4 days a week (169–216 days) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 |
| 3 days a week (121–168 days) | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 2 days a week (73–120 days) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| 1 day a week (48–72 days) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
There's no obligation to grant paid leave to people with fewer than 48 scheduled working days a year. As for full-time employees, the grant date is 6 months after joining, then every year after that. How to count grant dates is explained in paid leave grant days and when they start.
Shift work and changes in working days
If you work shifts and your weekly days vary, the judgment uses the annual scheduled working days in your employment contract or notice of working conditions. If the contract doesn't set a number, it's common to estimate from your record, such as doubling your attendance days over the last 6 months.
- The judgment is made using your scheduled working days on the grant date
- If you go from 3 to 5 days a week partway through a year, the days already granted that year don't change. The new number applies from the next grant date
- Conversely, if you go from 5 to 3 days a week, the days already granted aren't reduced
- Length of service carries over even if you switch from part-time to full-time
For example, if someone works 3 days a week for 2 years and 6 months and then becomes a full-time employee working 5 days a week, they're granted 14 days from the regular table at the 3 years 6 months grant date. Resetting the length of service and counting again from 10 days is wrong.
When the 5-day annual obligation applies
Companies must make sure that anyone granted 10 or more days at one time takes 5 days of paid leave a year. People on pro-rated grants are covered from the year their grant reaches 10 days.
| Working pattern | Service at which it applies | Days granted at that point |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | 6 months (from the first grant) | 10 days |
| 4 days a week | 3 years 6 months | 10 days |
| 3 days a week | 5 years 6 months | 10 days |
| 2 days or 1 day a week | Doesn't apply | Maximum 7 days or 3 days |
Whether it applies depends only on the days granted that time. Reaching 10 or more by adding days carried over from the previous year doesn't count. The details and deadlines of the obligation are explained in the 5-day annual paid leave obligation.
Calculate your own days with the tool
In the Paid Leave Days Calculator, choose your scheduled weekly days, such as "3 days a week", and whether your scheduled weekly hours are under 30, and it calculates a grant schedule using pro-rated days. If you work shifts, choose "Set by days per year" and enter your annual scheduled working days. The "Grant days chart" tab lets you compare the table above by working pattern.
Pay during paid leave for part-time and casual workers depends on the work rules: it's paid as your usual wage for a normal working day, your average wage, or similar. How to think about the amount on a paid leave day for hourly workers is covered in using up paid leave before resigning and pay during leave. For calculating daily working hours, see also how to calculate working hours.
FAQ
- How many days of paid leave does a part-timer get at 3 days a week?
- If scheduled weekly hours are under 30, it's 5 days after 6 months of service, 6 at 1 year 6 months, 6 at 2 years 6 months, 8 at 3 years 6 months, 9 at 4 years 6 months, 10 at 5 years 6 months and 11 at 6 years 6 months or more.
- How many days of paid leave does a part-timer get at 4 days a week?
- If weekly hours are under 30, it's 7 days after 6 months of service, 8 at 1 year 6 months, 9 at 2 years 6 months, 10 at 3 years 6 months, 12 at 4 years 6 months, 13 at 5 years 6 months and 15 at 6 years 6 months or more. At 30 hours or more a week, it starts at 10 days, the same as full-time.
- Do student and short-term casual workers get paid leave?
- Yes. Being a student doesn't matter. Leave is granted after 6 months of continuous service with attendance of at least 80%. Even on 3-month contracts, renewals that add up to 6 months or more count as continuous service.
- Do part-timers with short daily hours still get a full day of leave?
- Yes. Paid leave is granted in days, so someone scheduled for 4 hours a day is paid 4 hours' wages for taking one day off. The length of your day doesn't reduce the number of days granted, though it does count toward whether your weekly total reaches 30 hours.
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