(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) — About half of Korean employees work overtime on weekday nights or weekends but, among them, more than half do so without pay, a survey showed Sunday.
Civic group Gapjil 119 and the Finance & Service Ubuntu Fund jointly conducted a survey of 1,000 employees.
In response to a question asking whether they normally worked overtime, 50.9 percent of those surveyed responded affirmatively.
The average overtime hours per week stood at less than six hours for 53.2 percent of the respondents, followed by six to 12 hours at 33.2 percent.
Despite the fact that labor laws ban more than 12 hours of weekly overtime, the share of those who said their weekly overtime amounted to more than 12 hours stood at 13.5 percent.
In response to a question asking whether they were paid for overtime, 41.3 percent said yes, while the remaining 58.7 percent said no.
Among non-union members, the share of those who said they were not paid overtime was high at 62 percent.
This share was also high at 73.6 percent among those who worked for businesses with less than five employees and 80 percent among those whose monthly income was less than 1.5 million won (US$1,150).
When asked about what compensation they received instead of overtime pay, 34.1 percent said they did not receive any compensation at all.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
