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South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivers a keynote address during a meeting for economic advisers and ministers at the Blue House on Dec. 27

The National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) announced on Oct. 23 that it will be convening a subcommittee meeting to devise an implementation plan for reduce working hours by November.

With its announcement, the government officially stated that it is developing supplementary measures after previously announcing plans for a six-month grace period on policing and punishment with the adoption of the 52-hour workweek in July.

“Everyone agreed on the need to come up with plans for a ‘soft landing’ so that [the 52-hour workweek] can be successfully established,” Blue House Economic Aide and NEAC Secretary Kim Hyeon-cheol said in a briefing after the meeting that day.

“The government plans to conduct a local survey of industry conditions and extensive research on the views of workers, managers, and other stakeholders to develop a plan by next month for improving the reduced working hour system,” Kim added.

The 52-hour limit on weekly working hours was introduced in July for workplaces with 300 or more regular employees, but the government decided to allow a six-month grace period on enforcement and penalties through the end of 2018. The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Employment and Labor plan to release findings by mid-November for a survey of company and worker opinions on the 52-hour workweek.

As “supplementary measures” are developed, the debate is expected to heat up again over the key issue with the 52-hour limit – namely an increase in unit periods under the flexible working hour system. The flexible working hour system is a form of labor in which working hours are increased during periods of large workloads and reduced during other periods to match the average legally allowed working hours (40 per week).

For example, an employee who works 50 hours (which is above the 40-hour limit) during a particularly busy week would only work 30 hours the following week, with the difference of 10 hours reflected. As a system, it is likely to be used in areas such as transportation, communications, and health services where it is more efficient to work consecutively, or in areas like air conditioner/heater manufacturing and food services where work tends to be concentrated during specific times of the year.

Introducing a flexible working hour system would require adjustments to employment rules or agreement between labor and management: unit periods of up to two weeks can be set through employment rules, while ones of up to three months can be established through labor-management agreement. Employers have called for the periods to be extended up to six months or one year.

During an amendment of the Labor Standards Act early this year, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to reach a conclusion by late 2022, when the reduced working hours are extended to all workplaces. That period has now been moved up four years to within 2018. The signs began surfacing in June, just before the 52-hour workweek was applied to public institutions and workplaces with at least 300 employees.

In a June talk with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Democratic Party floor leader Hong Young-pyo said, “An increase in the flexible working hour system’s unit period from three months to six months could be considered.”

Meanwhile, the administration told a different story. Then-Minister of Employment and Labor Kim

Young-ju objected to Hong’s remarks, noting that “only 3.4 percent of all companies use the flexible hour system” and arguing that “increasing unit periods to six months would render the working hour reduction meaningless.”

Kim’s argument was that extending unit periods would in turn increase the period of time during which the 52-hour limit could be exceeded, undercutting the very aims of the system’s introduction. But the employers’ position gained more weight amid a slump in employment. Speaking at a June 26 economic issue review meeting just before the working hour reduction went into effect, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Finance Kim Dong-yeon pledged to “focus on establishing the system and commit our energies to resolve issues rather than policing.”

He also announced plans to “quickly develop improvement measures, including an increase in unit periods for the flexible working hour system.”

Meanwhile, the labor community has objected to what it describes as “measures that undermine the meaning and aim of the working hour reduction.” Some have also voiced concerns that wages will not be properly preserved to match the increased working hours, and that permanent application of the flexible working hour system could render the working hour reduction meaningless.

“Increasing the unit periods for the flexible working system is an important issue for consideration, but we’re looking to establish a balanced improvement plan for the system that takes the labor community’s concerns into account, including lost wages,” a Ministry of Employment and Labor official said on Oct. 23.　

By Park Ki-yong, Seoul correspondent, and Seong Yeon-ceol, staff reporter

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