The 52-hour workweek will be expanded to businesses hiring between 50 to 300 people in January 2020 and include firms with more than five people in July 2021. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Overtime hours at domestic workplaces decreased last year, due largely to the implementation of the government’s 52-hour workweek policy, officials said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said the number of overtime hours per person at workplaces with more than 300 employees was 11.4 hours in November last year, down 0.8 hour from the same month of the previous year.
Of the workplaces, manufacturers saw their overtime hours falling 19.5 hours in the same month, a year-on-year reduction of 1.9 hours, the ministry said.
In the manufacturing sector, the reduction of overtime hours was noticeably bigger for five types of businesses that used to rank in the top five in terms of the amount of overtime work, it noted.
Employees in the manufacturing of rubber and plastic products reduced their overtime hours by 16.9 hours on-year to 20.7 hours in November. The on-year decreases in the food and beverage manufacturing were 13.6 hours and 10.4 hours, respectively.
Ministry officials said the implementation of the 52-hour workweek in July last year appeared to have mostly sparked the reduction in the overtime hours, though the nation’s economic slowdown could have been another contributing factor.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy implemented the shorter workweek rule amid efforts to stop chronic overwork and stimulate consumption and a greater work-life balance. The policy went into effect in July for companies with more than 300 employees and will be gradually expanded to cover smaller firms.
The 52-hour workweek will be expanded to businesses hiring between 50 to 300 people in January 2020 and include firms with more than five people in July 2021.
Meanwhile, regular and temporary employees at workplaces with more than one employee in South Korea earned an average wage of 3.1 million won (US$2,780) per person in November, up 3.2 percent, or 96,000 won, from a year ago, the ministry said.
Regular employees earned an average of 3.29 million won, up 3 percent, while non-regular employees earned an average of 1.46 million won, up 4.9 percent, it added.
(Yonhap)
