Burden on Colleagues Archives - understand-culture

Receiving a Day Off

Oyasumi o itadakimasu (お休みをいただきます): I will receive a day off. The humble verb itadaku, to receive, presents leave as something given by others. An article in President Online describes a request for leave that begins with an apology: Sumimasen. Raishū oyasumi o itadakimasu node. Excuse me. I will be taking a day off next week.

Ana o akeru (穴をあける): to make a hole. The dictionary entry for ana, hole, includes a gap left where a needed person is missing, with the example jin’in ni ana ga aku, a hole opens in the staff.

Two Thirds of Paid Leave

In the General Survey on Working Conditions published in December 2025, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported that workers took on average 66.9 percent of the annual paid leave they were granted. It was the highest rate since 1984.

The government’s target is a rate of 70 percent or more by 2028.

Guilt Toward Colleagues

In a survey by the travel company Expedia, workers in Japan said they had been granted an average of 19 days of paid leave in 2023 and had taken 12. At 63 percent, the rate was the lowest of the 11 regions in the survey.

Of the workers in Japan, 53 percent said that when they take paid leave, they feel guilty toward the colleagues who cover their work.

An Allowance for the Whole Team

In 2023, the insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance introduced the ikukyū shokuba ōen teate, an allowance to support the workplace of an employee on childcare leave. It goes to everyone in that workplace, in the same amount for all.

The amount, up to 100,000 yen, depends on the length of the leave and the number of people in the workplace.

Paying the Colleagues Who Cover

For childcare leave that begins on or after January 1, 2024, the Japanese government subsidizes employers that pay an allowance to the colleagues who take over the work of the employee on leave. A leaflet of the labor bureaus explains the subsidy. It generally pays three quarters of the allowance, with a limit of 100,000 yen a month for twelve months.

The leaflet calls these colleagues shūi no rōdōsha, the workers around the person on leave. A separate part of the same subsidy supports hiring a replacement.

Paid Leave and Colleagues

From October to November 2010, the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training surveyed regular employees aged 20 to 59 about taking paid leave. It received 2,071 valid answers and published the results in April 2011.

Among the reasons for holding back from taking leave, 60.2 percent agreed with Yasumu to shokuba no hoka no hito ni meiwaku ni naru kara. Taking time off would cause trouble for others at work.