Staff at a Chinese supermarket chain can take ‘unhappy days’ whenever they want. Perhaps we’re finally recognising a basic truth: work doesn’t make us happyo more croaky, fake phone-in-sick voice for the employees of one regional Chinese supermarket chain: the founder of Pang Dong Lai, Yu Donglai, is offering employees up to 10 days’ “unhappiness leave”.
“I want every staff member to have freedom. Everyone has times when they’re not happy, so if you’re not happy, do not come to work,” Yu said at an industry conference,. Staff can take “unhappy days” when they want, in addition to normal sick and holiday leave entitlements, and management can’t refuse: “Denial is a violation,” Yu said.
I always find myself wondering about work and its place in May. There’s the obvious prompt of the 1st – workers’ day, celebrated byworking in all right-thinking places – and the month is studded with days off in mainland Europe, like chocolate chips in your breakfast pastry. But it’s also because May tends to be spectacularly beautiful, truly the worst time to be working. It’s a time for feeling still-green grass beneath you and the first warmth on your neck; watching the natural world unfurl and listening to birds and bees. To do anything but enjoy it – pollen permitting – feels like a waste of your life.
But here you are, at your desk, and here I am at mine. And there are all those students stuck inside revising, preparation for a life of professional frustration as much as for their exams. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could implement “bare minimum May”? A bit more radical than justand definitely more fun. Failing that, perhaps enlightened employers should take Yu’s idea one step further and recognise explicitly how little of our happiness comes from what we do for them.