Shenzhen considers vacations, workers' fingers are crossed

Shenzhen, Guangdong province, one of the country's pioneers in reform and opening-up, is now piloting measures to better protect laborers' physical and mental health, including launching a compulsory vacation system.

The draft amendment to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Health Ordinance, which was submitted on Monday for a second review by the standing committee of Shenzhen people's congress, requires employers to reasonably space out employees' working hours.

That means employees handling heavier physical and mental workloads should work in shifts and have vacations designated to avoid excessive physical or mental pressure.

The suggested amendments have provoked heated discussions online. Many laborers have welcomed the regulation, but some doubt it will be effectively implemented.

More than 11,000 out of the 23,000 people surveyed by people.cn on its official Sina Weibo account on Tuesday supported the compulsory vacation system in Shenzhen, and suggested its nationwide promotion.

But more than 4,000 people, who agree it is a good policy, said it is difficult to actually implement it.

And about 7,500 people don't even expect the policy to get implemented; they just hope their employers will guarantee workers a two-day weekend vacation and do away with compulsory overtimes.

Although the Employee Paid Annual Leave Ordinance has been around for more than a decade, since being implemented in 2008, in reality paid leaves have not been granted to employees uniformly because of the incomplete labor protection system.

Many private sector employees do not even enjoy paid leaves as they fear losing their jobs. But the employers who violate the laborers' legal rights and interests have hardly ever been punished for such violations.

What's worse, some entrepreneurs that are only keen on making profits publicly advocate a 9 am-to-9 pm, six-days-a-week work schedule, which not only undermines employees' rights and interests but also disturbs a healthy laborer protection environment in society.

It is hoped that Shenzhen will take the lead in exploring new measures to better protect laborers' interests and reverse the unhealthy mindset of some enterprises.