Korea to introduce complementary measures on workweek reform in September

Office workers working inside the building [Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor will aim to come up with a revised workweek reform proposal in September after reflecting the voices of diverse groups.

“No matter how good a policy is, it cannot be promoted if the people feel uneasy and do not want it,” Labor Minister Lee Jung-Sik said. “We visited various sites across the country and heard opinions of the workers throughout 41 occasions from March 15. We will refer to the valued opinions and come up with a supplement measure.”

Lee’s comments were made on Monday, the last day to make a legislative notice of the first workweek reform proposal under the Yoon Suk Yeol government. The proposal involved providing work hour based on monthly, quarterly and annual basis to offer more flexibility in the workplace but the idea faced strong backlash from the labor community as it gave the impression that this would rather increase work hours.

The labor ministry said that it will aim to propose a revised bill during a regular session of the National Assembly in September. If the bill, however, fails to win public and political support, the overall workweek reform may be deferred to after the general elections in April next year.

For now, the labor ministry plans to collect opinions from various groups of society.

“We will conduct a survey on 6,000 people to collect an objective opinion and carry out an in-depth group interview,” Lee said.

The minister drew a line on the argument by the country’s two major labor union groups and the opposition party to abolish the workweek reform proposal, saying that many of them nevertheless agree on the need for a reform although they are concerned about the ill effects.

The government’s initial revision of the labor standards act focused on allowing companies to have employees work for more hours per week from the current 52 hours, if the workers are guaranteed 11 straight hours of rest time. The proposal aimed to introduce more flexibility in the work hour system but it faced strong opposition from the working community. Yoon last month ordered a complementary measure on the proposal, saying that “it is impossible to work more than 60 hours a week.”