South Korea’s government has unveiled a set of plans to overhaul the current 52-hour working week system and give workers greater flexibility in their working and resting hours. The current system, which was introduced in 2018, limits workers to work up to 52 hours a week. The new plans will not only allow workers to manage the time they work on a weekly basis, but also on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis. This will allow workers to spend longer periods of time off thereafter, having saved up their resting hours.
The revision of the labour laws will allow workers to have more control over their working hours, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labour. They can choose to work up to 69 hours a week, with the flexibility to adjust their hours based on their workload. This means that during busy periods, workers may choose to work longer hours. During quieter times, they may also choose to work fewer hours. According to the new standards of overtime labour, a worker may work a maximum of 140 hours of overtime per quarter of a year, 250 hours in half a year and 440 hours in a full year.
The government will also introduce a new policy which allows workers to save extended working hours and switch them to holiday time. The addition of this to existing paid annual holiday time will mean that workers can enjoy long-term holidays, like sabbatical months, the labour ministry explained. The flexible working hour system, which allows workers to freely select their working and commuting hours, will be strengthened and improved.
Currently, details of the system, such as the target workers or the number of days and hours that can be controlled, must first be confirmed in advance. There are also no post-change procedures set in place. The government will come up with a procedure to change the details of the flexible work system through consultation with the representatives of relevant workers.
Labour Minister Lee Jung-sik said that the current working week system which holds the company legally accountable for workers who work longer than 52 hours a week has proved to have negative side effects. He claimed that it might have encouraged employers to record fake working hours to avoid penalties, leaving employees who worked overtime without pay. Lee explained that under the new plans and restrictions, there will not be an increase in the total number of working hours for workers. Instead, when an employee works a lot of overtime in a given week, he cannot work overtime in other weeks. To prevent excessive overtime work during a specific period, 11 consecutive hours of rest between working hours are regulated as mandatory. Working hours should also be below a four-week average of 64 hours in a week.
The government plans to submit a revision Bill to the National Assembly in June or July after a 40-day legislative notice period from Monday to April 17.
