The futility of the rigid 52-hour workweek

Companies should be able to flex their hours on their terms and agreement with workers.

Kim Won-baeThe author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo. “I work from the moment I wake up to the moment when I go to bed, and I work seven days a week. When I’m not working, I’m thinking about working,” said Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, in an interview in April. He also expects the best from his employees. He’d rather “torture” his employees into greatness instead of “firing” them, he added.

In August, Bloomberg reported that working for a company under such a pushy hands-on boss feels like a “pressure cooker.” One former employee groaned that seven-day workweeks and days that end around 2 a.m. had been common. But they are handsomely compensated, as one former employee described it as being tied to “golden handcuffs.”

Elon Musk — the CEO behind Tesla and SpaceX also known for being workaholic — praises Huang for having an “absolutely right attitude.” In 2018, he tweeted, “There are many places where it’s easy to work, but no one ever changed the world working 40 hours a week.” If you agree or disagree, there’s a reason why the world’s best companies come from the United States.

The governing People Power Party (PPP) last week inserted a provision exempting the rigid 52-hour workweek for employees involved in research and development when motioning a special act on semiconductors. In the past too, a 40-hour workweek was standard, but allowed paid overtime up to 12 hours on weekdays and 16 hours on weekends and holidays. The Moon Jae-in government made it mandatory for employees to work no more than 52 hours a week, including weekends. That was a watershed change.

But the 52-hour workweek led to some misunderstandings, as it didn’t mean that all workers must work 52 hours a week. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, a regular employee worked an average 174.5 hours a month last year. That means they worked an average 8.23 hours a day since the workdays average 21.2 days a month. Compared to 193.2 hours in 2007 when the related data became available, Koreans are working 19 hours less per month. There may be some incompliant companies, but it has become common to leave work as soon as their 8 hours are up.

Moreover, large companies pay overtime according to their overtime time sheets. Samsung Electronics remunerates four hours in overtime pay per week even without checking overtime. Since monthly pay is the same whether one works 40 hours or 44 hours a week, few would choose to work more than 40 hours per week.

The changing work culture helped establish the 40-hour workweek norm, but not without disgruntlements and distrust. Companies claim that they have compensated for extra work hours, but employees have come to consider their fixed overtime pay as a basic allowance like the commuting fee coverage.

Legally, companies still can use employees for up to 64 hours a week, but it requires a special condition and approval from the labor minister. In short, extending working hours demands expansive paperwork and reviews. Some can’t understand the problem with current working hour status, as there are companies like SK hynix which do well and stay competitive on the global stage while abiding by the rigid 52-hour workweek rule. But we cannot know if they will remain competitive against foreign chipmakers who have no statutory limits in working hours.

Our chipmakers and their employees can be compared to members of Team Korea in sports. Ahead of international competitions like the Olympics, athletes and their coaches map out a rigorous training timetable and strategy. Training won’t go as hoped if any training beyond the time limit requires approval from the national team administrator. Lengthy training doesn’t always lead to good results, but without sufficient training, the chance of winning a medal can be slim.

The U.S. Federal Labor Standards Act has adopted a “white-collar” exemption since 1938. Japan also has a similar rule. There’s no reason for Korea to stick to rigidity. Companies should be able to flex their hours on their terms and agreement with workers.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.