Japanese Firm Pioneers 'Heartache Leave'
A Japanese cosmetics firm has a soft spot for workers who have been unlucky in love. It gives employees from one to three days off for "heartache leave," acknowledging that breaking up is hard to do.
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
Okay, today's last word in business today comes from Japan, a country years ahead of us in many technologies and now perhaps also in workplace benefits. The word is heartache leave.
A cosmetics marketing company in Tokyo gives its workers time off after breaking up with a partner. The idea is for staffers to cry themselves out and return to work refreshed.
The company seems to think that splitting up is harder to do as you get older. If you're under 25 years old, you get one day of heartache leave, but workers who are older than 29 get three days to pull themselves together after a bad break-up.
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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
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