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S. Koreans work 347 hours more than the OECD average

Posted August. 20, 2016 07:11,   

Updated August. 20, 2016 07:23

한국어

South Korea needs to reduce one of the world’s longest working hours in order to settle the flexible work time system as it is practically impossible to establish the system without reducing absolute work hours. There has been no progress on reducing working hours as efforts to pass the labor reform act were stalled in the National Assembly.

According to the 2016 employment outlook report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Koreans work the second-longest among 34 OECD members after Mexico. South Korean employees worked 2,113 hours on average in 2015 and Mexico recorded the longest working hours, 2,246 hours. Based on the legal working hours of eight hours a day, South Korean worked 43 more days than the average OECD worker. Assuming that a person works 22 days per month, South Koreans worked two months more than their OECD counterparts.

On Sept. 15, last year, representatives of government, labor, and business reached a grand compromise on labor reform and agreed to reduce average annual hours worked to a range of 1,800 hours by 2020. Based on the agreement, the ruling party submitted the revised labor standard act to the 19th National Assembly. Under the proposal, the legal maximum work hours per week should be reduced from the current 68 hours to 52 hours. However, this legislation was discarded due to other controversial issues such as worker dispatching act. Although the legislation was submitted again to the 20th National Assembly, it is still unclear whether the bill will pass the National Assembly.

Another problem is that the court’s decision on the administrative interpretation of the law made by the Ministry of Employment and Labor is imminent. Previously, the ministry argued the maximum 68 work hours per week. Although such working hour is not stipulated in the act, many employers stick to the 68 working hours per week for their employees. Thus, they can be punished if the Supreme Court rules the interpretation unconstitutional.

There are moves to clearly define the line between work and rest, as more and more people begin to use their smart devices. Kim Ki-seon, an associate fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, conducted a survey of 2,402 workers and found that respondents spent an average of 11 hours of work per week with their smart devices after official working hours. Rep. Shin Kyung-min of the Minjoo party proposed a bill to revise the Labor Standard Act that prohibits work orders via social networking services and text messages after working hours. Some people argue that it is an overactive legislation, however.



유성열기자 ryu@donga.com