The nation’s workers and students can look forward to six weekends lasting three days or longer next year, the Ministry of the Interior announced early this week.
According to revisions to regulations, holidays falling on a Saturday next year are to have a day of “compensatory leave” the Friday before, while those that fall on a Sunday are to be extended to the following Monday.
The changes, intended to make up for the six national holidays that are “eaten up” by weekends on next year’s calendar, mean that in addition to the six-day Chinese New Year holiday for Feb. 18 to Feb. 23, there will be five other long weekends throughout the year.
The others are for 228 Peace Memorial Day for Feb. 27 to March 1, Children’s Day and Tomb Sweeping Day for April 3 to April 6, the Dragon Boat Festival for June 19 to June 21, the Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept. 26 to Sept. 28, and National Day for Oct. 9 to Oct. 11.
The total, including regular weekends, comes to 115 days off work and school.
In late February, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) expressed support for the idea of increasing the number of public holidays, calling it part of the Cabinet’s efforts to give the public the “simple pleasure” of more time off.
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