[Column] Venture 'Flexible Working Hours' Still a Long Way Off

Startup CEO "52-Hour Workweek Is Nonsense"

"A 52-hour workweek for early ventures and startups? That's absurd."

The main topics at the Venture Summer Forum held in Jeonju from the 23rd to the 25th were money, technology, global, and local. Advice from first-generation venture pioneers such as Byeon Daegyu, Chairman of Humax Holdings, and Nam Minwoo, Chairman of Dasan Group, also centered on entrepreneurship. However, the true feelings of venture and startup representatives met at the forum were elsewhere. It was the '52-hour workweek,' which was also the theme of the meeting on the 24th.

Venture entrepreneurs who attended the Venture Summer Forum held in Jeonju from the 23rd to the 25th [Photo by Korea Venture Business Association]

A startup CEO who had been busy launching a new application recently said, "For both me and my employees, catching the last bus or subway is a given, and we often stay up all night until dawn, so how can we comply with the 52-hour workweek?" The grace period for the '8-hour additional work system for workplaces with fewer than 30 employees' ends at the end of this year. After that, if the 52-hour workweek is not observed, employers face imprisonment of up to two years or fines of up to 20 million won.

To comply with the law, the workforce would need to be two to three times larger, but there is no capacity for that. Extending the development period is also difficult. One startup CEO said, "We don't operate on a timetable. When a partner requests something to be done by a certain deadline, we have no choice but to meet it." Entrepreneurs met on site unanimously said, "If core personnel at the team leader level or above strictly observe working hours, the company's growth is out of the question."

Sung Sangyeop, Chairman of the Korea Venture Business Association, said, "The Labor Standards Act should be amended to expand the unit period of the flexible working hours system for venture companies from six months to up to one year to secure flexibility in working hours and enhance corporate competitiveness." He particularly argued that the selective working system should be allowed for up to three months regardless of job type exclusively for venture companies. Currently, the unit period is allowed up to three months only for R&D work.

The venture industry has also prepared its own alternatives. They propose including an exemption clause from the 52-hour workweek when signing labor contracts with core workers, and in return, offering compensation such as wage increases, long-term leave, and stock options.

Contrary to the industry's urgency and anxiety, government legal and institutional arrangements remain stagnant. The Yoon Seok-yeol administration pledged 'flexible working hours' as a campaign promise but nothing has progressed so far. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the main department, only says it will strengthen communication with the National Assembly and related ministries. Entrepreneurs complain, "Companies with fewer than 30 employees are in a blind spot." We must not ignore warnings that this could become a venture bomb rather than a second venture boom.