SEOUL, Jan 19(Reuters) – The administration of South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol desires to permit individuals to work as much as 69 hours every week – up from the present 52 – and financial institution additional time hours in alternate for day without work, a plan it hopes will promote household progress alongside productiveness.
The federal government says the plan, set to be introduced subsequent month, will present extra flexibility within the labour market. Officers say individuals would work much less as an entire, encouraging them to have households and shore up a fertility charge that’s projected to hit a global-low 0.7 in 2024.
It could supersede a 2018 legislation that restricted the work week to 52 hours – 40 hours of normal work plus 12 hours of additional time. The Ministry of Employment and Labor stated in an announcement that legislation had fallen behind the instances.
“In case you are working at ice cream factories for instance, you may work additional time seasonally, then save the hours of labor and use later to go on an extended vacation,” the ministry stated of the reform.
The proposal would permit employers and staff to agree on whether or not to depend additional time by the week, with 12 hours allowed; the month, with 52 hours allowed; the quarter, with 140 hours allowed; a half 12 months, with 250 hours; or a full 12 months, with 440 hours of additional time allowed.
For counting durations of a month or longer, as much as 29 hours every week of additional time can be allowed, for a complete of 69 work hours in a single week. Extra time might be exchanged later for day without work at a charge that has not been introduced.
Solely 14% of South Koreans had been in commerce unions in 2021, knowledge present, which might restrict how a lot staff can negotiate. In an announcement, the Korean Girls’s Associations United stated “solely laws just like the 52-hour workweek and stress from labour unions can defend staff from lengthy working hours”.
The legislation have to be handed by the Nationwide Meeting, the place Yoon’s political opponents maintain the bulk. Opposition politicians have stated they oppose the plan, with Rep. Park Yong-jin of the principle opposition Democratic Get together of Korea calling it a “shortcut to inhabitants extinction”.
The labour ministry has dismissed such criticisms, saying the proposal would “solely add extra alternative”.
Greater than 18% of South Koreans labored greater than 50 hours every week on the planet’s Tenth-largest financial system in 2021, based on unpublished knowledge from the Organisation for Financial Co-operation and Growth – the fifth-highest after Turkey, Mexico, Colombia and Costa Rica.
[1/5] Workplace employee Park Sang-seon rests at a therapeutic sleep cafe in Seoul, South Korea, January 12, 2023. REUTERS/Heo Ran
The transfer has been welcomed by the nation’s main enterprise lobbying teams, together with the Korea Enterprise Federation, which described it as “vital”. However some specialists are sceptical that the brand new proposal would scale back how a lot individuals work.
“The great thing about introducing a 52-hour workweek was that you simply gave a sign to employers, unions and staff saying, ‘Hear, you actually must do one thing in regards to the lengthy working hours tradition in your nation,’” stated Willem Adema, a senior economist on the social coverage division of the OECD. “If the present laws is all about giving flexibility then that’s advantageous. However it doesn’t appear to be interpreted as such.”
The federal government says permitting staff to spend accrued additional time hours on holidays will imply individuals who need to work much less – similar to dad and mom or caregivers – might be ready to take action.
Extending working hours, even briefly, impacts ladies greater than males, stated Lee Min-Ah, Professor of Sociology at Chung-Ang College.
“When male companions work extra, ladies’s financial exercise might be discouraged and their duty of childcare will solely improve,” Lee stated.
The nation already has the bottom fertility charge on the planet, and a quickly ageing inhabitants. The working-age inhabitants peaked at 38 million in 2019 and is about to drop by greater than 9 million by 2040, authorities knowledge present.
Lee Yoon-sun, a 29-year-old workplace employee, stated working high-intensity hours after which taking day without work can be disruptive.
“Working lengthy hours when you’ve a heavy workload after which resting if you find yourself much less busy looks as if a sample that can result in an irregular life, affecting having kids and caring for them,” stated Lee, who doesn’t have kids.
Different staff say the brand new plan ignores loads of the cultural and social nuances of labor in South Korea.
“If it’s 6 p.m., you do not simply run out the door, you rigorously put in your garments and be sure to watch what your co-workers are doing so you aren’t the one leaving whereas everybody else continues to be working,” stated Albert Kim, a 27-year-old dwelling in Seoul, who additionally doesn’t have kids. “There are loads of gray areas I want the proposal would have addressed.”
Reporting by Hyunsu Yim. Enhancing by Gerry Doyle
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