Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Toyota Motor Corp. and its labor union are considering a review of the company's practice of operating on some national holidays, a prevalent custom in the Japanese automotive industry.

The automaker and labor union aim to create four three-day weekends that include a national holiday in fiscal 2027, which starts in April next year, according to sources. They plan to finalize the decision as early as October after obtaining approval from the worksites.

The change will allow Toyota employees to spend national holidays with their families, which the company hopes will help attract high-quality talent. A shift in vacation time policy at Japan's largest automaker will inevitably affect policy at other companies in the industry, such as parts suppliers.

In the automotive industry, it is customary to work on some public holidays to improve production efficiency. To compensate, automakers shift these days off to workdays during Golden Week, the Bon holiday period, and the New Year holidays to ensure employees receive an adequate number of days off throughout the year. However, this practice has drawn complaints -- especially from families with children -- and is seen as a hindrance to recruitment efforts.

For fiscal 2027, Toyota is considering giving employees days off for Marine Day in July, Respect for the Aged Day in September, Sports Day in October and Coming of Age Day in January. In exchange, the company plans to designate some weekdays during Golden Week as workdays. The Bon and New Year holidays are expected to remain vacation periods as usual.

The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions, made up of labor unions for Japanese automakers, also aims to turn Marine Day and Sports Day into industry-wide holidays. Labor unions for individual companies are expected to follow this policy. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, which includes major automakers in Japan, has also announced a plan to review its policy on holidays.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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