(Yicai) Aug. 6 -- Several Chinese provincial-level regions, including Anhui, Guizhou, Henan, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, and Yunnan provinces and Tianjin, have issued notices to encourage workers to take paid annual leave.

Henan proposed that workers combine their paid annual leave with weekends, short public holidays, and school breaks to create flexible three-to-seven-day vacations, and encouraged eligible employers to pilot flexible Friday afternoons off, according to a recent provincial government notice.

Similarly, Tianjin said it supports employees in combining paid annual leave with their paid marriage, maternity, and childcare leave and exploring more flexible, partial leave arrangements.

China's labor law outlines a standard workweek of eight hours per day, for a total of 40 hours a week. Employees can enjoy about 13 days off a year for statutory public holidays, including the Chinese New Year and National Day holidays, as well as paid annual leave based on their years of service.

After their first year, workers are entitled to five days of paid annual leave until they reach 10 years of service, when they are granted five more days. After 20 years, they have 15 days of paid annual leave.

The provincial governments also called for a shift in workplace culture. Tianjin urged abandoning the notion that dedication to one's job means forgoing leave. Guizhou told employees not to be concerned that taking leave could hurt their pay, performance evaluation, or promotion prospects. Zhejiang condemned ineffective and forced overtime.

The State Council, China's cabinet, approved the government's first-ever five-year plan for consumption last month. It called for revising the regulation on paid annual leave, strictly enforcing the paid leave system, and encouraging employers and employees to align annual leave with statutory public holidays or local festivals for flexible, extended vacations. It also supported qualified provinces in expanding spring and autumn school breaks.

Fourteen provinces have already rolled out extended school break initiatives, said Peng Peng, executive president of the Guangdong Society of Economic Reform. Linking the school breaks with parents' paid annual leave could boost family travel and consumption, he noted.

Editor: Futura Costaglione