Civil servants in Shanghai's Baoshan District must use their allotted vacation time, the district government announced yesterday.
In the past, many public employees didn't bother with vacations because they couldn't find anyone to cover for them while they were away.
Many opted instead to cash in their days-off at the end of the year.
The district says it will ban "vacation subsidies" in an effort to encourage more civil servants to take a holiday.
The government is also calling on department leaders to take responsibility for arranging days-off for public servants. Leaders who don't set up vacation schedules will not earn administrative honors or bonuses at the end of the year, Baoshan officials said.
"The rule aims to ensure public servants get enough hours for rest and different kinds of relaxation," an official surnamed Zhou with the Baoshan District Personnel Bureau told Shanghai Daily yesterday.
Public servants have been allowed to take a certain number of days-off each year for several years now, but a surprising number don't take their holidays.
According to the city government, public servants with five to 15 years of experience are entitled to 10 days of paid vacation every year. Those with more than 25 years on the job get 20 days off a year.
"The main reason why public servants decline days-off is that they can't find colleagues to fill in for them," Zhou said.
Pudong New Area adopted a similar policy in 2002.
Not all districts are willing to follow suit, however, saying it would be too difficult to cover staff shortages if everyone takes their vacations.
"We don't have a rule similar to Baoshan's because it's really difficult to give the same number of vacation days to people with different jobs," said Ma Guorong, an official with the Zhabei District Personnel Bureau.
"Some employees just cannot afford to leave their position for some time because no one can replace them," he said.
Yu Pengfei of the Xuhui District Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said he likes the Baoshan policy, in principal.
"However, I am afraid if I leave my position for one week, I will spend three weeks making up for the allotment of work I have missed," he said.