Found this story on Yahoo! News this morning and felt the need to share. At most jobs employers offer several types of "days off" depending on the company and the need to miss a day of work. There are sick days, personal days, vacation days... maternity leave, etc. One company in Japan is giving its female workers "heartache leave" so they can stay home and "cry it out" after a bad breakup or end of a relationship. Here's a snippet from the article:
Tokyo-based Hime & Company, which also gives staff paid time off to hit the shops during sales season, says heartache leave allows staff to cry themselves out and return to work refreshed. "Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick."
Apparently the workers' age is a factor in how many days they get to stay home and cry themselves to sleep...
Staff aged 24 years or younger can take one day off per year, while those between 25 and 29 can take two days off and those older can take three days off, the company said. "Women in their 20s can find their next love quickly, but it's tougher for women in their 30s, and their break-ups tend to be more serious."
Those poor, old, loveless ladies... You can have an extra day to stay at home with your cats. The good news is that "heartache leave" isn't the only bonus type of leave the employees have! They also can take a day to go shopping without fear of ridicule or termination.
"Before, women could take half-days off to go to sales, but you'd have to hide your shopping bags in lockers by the train station," Hiradate said. "But with paid leave, we don't have to feel guilty about bringing our shopping bags to work, and we can enjoy the best part about sales shopping -- talking about our purchases afterwards."
Now... I'm sure these bonus days are a very nice perk for the employees of this company, but can I just ask a dumb question? Isn't that what personal days are for??? I know that I would much rather take a "personal day" than let my entire office know that I'm sitting at home eating a gallon of Häagen-Dazs. Maybe that's just me.
