South Korea’s government has been forced to reconsider the proposal to increase the working day to a maximum of 69 hours per week, as it has met with opposition from young people who claim the measure would prevent them from reconciling and quitting their jobs could health at risk health. According to The Korea Herald, the plan, unveiled earlier this month, has been welcomed by major South Korean business groups because it “provides a solution to the difficulties of meeting deadlines” in a country known for its drug addiction culture. Amid rising dissatisfaction among citizens, President Yoon Suk-yeol has expressed that he believes a working week longer than 60 hours is “excessive” and called for adjustments to “protect the rights and interests of less privileged workers”. as reported this Thursday by the Office of the President.
The Department for Employment and Labor announced on March 6 that it intends to raise the current 52-hour weekly cap to allow employers to count overtime on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis, allowing workers to manage their schedules based on their workload. This would allow them to work up to 69 hours a week at peak times, but take more time off during more relaxed times. Since 2018, South Korea has allowed up to 40 hours of regular work and 12 hours of overtime, and companies violating this rule face penalties.
The bill has met with strong opposition from workers under 40, who fear the reform will force them to work even more overtime and prevent them from finding a work-life balance. Although the proposal aims to force employers to compensate for overtime during periods of inactivity, in practice many doubt that they will be able to benefit from extended leave. According to a government survey cited by the Financial Times, only 40% of South Korean companies’ employees enjoyed their entire annual vacation in 2020.
The lowest fertility rate in the world
From the Labor portfolio, in an attempt to downplay concerns about family and health reconciliation, they have ensured that this “flexible system” offers more options. “We can solve serious social problems such as the rapid aging of the population and the low birth rate by enabling women to have more flexible working hours,” Minister Lee Jung-sik said when announcing the plan. South Korea’s total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman would have if she had given birth in all her reproductive years) has been declining since it fell to 2.1 children in 1984, the number required for the population to remain stable. It currently stands at 0.78, the lowest in the world.
President Yoon himself on Tuesday ordered the measures to be re-examined because they “do not reflect the voices of younger workers”. South Korea’s president urged government agencies to “better communicate the proposal to citizens, particularly millennials and Gen Z.” [aquellos nacidos entre las décadas de 1980 y 2010]’ said his press secretary Kim Eun-hye. The Labor Minister met with union officials on Wednesday to seek views and said he was “open to any possibility of change”.
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Industrial, IT and construction companies had demanded more flexibility in working hours, pointing out the lack of staff and scheduling difficulties. While business circles such as the Federation of South Korean Enterprises have stressed that the project will benefit industry competitiveness and help create jobs, the Association of South Korean Trade Unions has harshly criticized the government’s plan, calling it “toxic”. “anachronistic” for “forcing workers to work extremely long, intense hours”. The miracle of the Han River, as the country’s rapid development after the Korean War (1950-1953) is called, owes much to this culture of overwork. South Korea is now the 10th largest economy in the world, but working long hours has discouraged many young people from starting families.
South Koreans worked an average of 1,915 hours a year in 2021, 199 hours more than the average for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries and behind only Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Chile. For their part, the Spaniards worked an average of 1,641 hours. The plan has also been criticized for not being able to keep up with other big economies like the UK, where many companies tried last year to introduce a four-day work week, a system dozens of activists say is leading to a similar one or higher productivity has resulted in greater employee well-being.
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