Are you longing for long holidays? How about taking eight days off in a row after working 22 consecutive days?

Starting from November 1 to the end of May next year, the pilot 8+22 mechanism applies to local civil servants in nine towns and villages in Qingzhen City in southwest China’s Guizhou Province. 

Social media users on leading platforms like Weibo have mixed reactions over the new leave policy. 

User @hedongren2010 said, “It is too extreme, which should not be promoted.”

While user @nanfengjianqu replied, “The mountainous area in southwest China is quite reclusive with poor transportation, so it is more humanized to allow staffs have a long holiday.”

User @lingyifeng said the new policy is understandable, “It requires such flexible working hours at grass-root level. I cannot say for others, but local officials in my village do have to race up to meet deadlines sometimes. ”

User @H_King questioned, “The point is whether it would affect effectiveness as well as health to work for 22 days in a row? ” 

Local authorities told Beijing Youth Daily that the initiative is designed to enable local farmers could always reach out to officials at any time, and meanwhile, ensure officials to take sufficient rest.

“Traditionally, officials work 9 to 5 and take weekends off, but farmers don’t rest during farming seasons. So it is not convenient for them to find an official sometimes when they are free. At the same time, officials always work extra hours in case of emergencies, such as natural disasters and traffic accidents. So, we have surveyed and talked with officials since September to launch the new policy,” said Li Zhengfei, deputy director of the organization department in Qingzhen. 

Wang Xiangqian, a lawyer specializing in HR and labor law, says the new policy is lawful if approved by local labor authorities, but he admits that it is not applicable universally, as working 22 days consecutively is tiresome in any normal situations.