Office Workers Survey 46.2% "Overtime Work"
About Half "Did Not Receive Overtime Pay"
About half of office workers work overtime, but more than half of them do not receive proper compensation.
On the 21st, the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 reported that, according to a survey conducted in June of 1,000 office workers, 46.2% of respondents said they "work overtime."
The responses indicating overtime work were higher among ▲men (52.6%) ▲regular employees (55.0%) ▲manufacturing industry (59.3%) ▲large companies with over 300 employees (57.7%).
Among the 462 office workers who work overtime, 52.2% said they do not receive the legally mandated overtime pay properly.
Those who do not receive any overtime pay accounted for 22.7%, those who receive only partial or fixed amounts also accounted for 22.7%, and 6.7% said they only receive transportation or meal allowances without any overtime pay.
The average overtime hours per week were mostly "6 hours or less (51.1%)," followed by "more than 6 hours but 12 hours or less (36.8%)." Regarding working beyond the current overtime limit of 12 hours, 6.8% answered "more than 12 hours but 18 hours or less," and 3.9% reported working more than 24 hours.
Additionally, 46.7% of all respondents said that if the government reforms the working hours cap system, a maximum weekly working time of "48 hours" would be appropriate.
The opinion that the current "52 hours per week" is appropriate was 45.5%, followed by "60 hours per week" at 6.8%, and "56 hours per week" at 6.2%.
In other words, 81.2% of respondents voiced opinions supporting either "maintaining the current system" or "reducing working hours," making up the majority.
Workplace Bullying 119 stated, "The European Union (EU) directive on working hours stipulates that the average weekly working hours, including overtime, should not exceed 48 hours. The International Labour Organization (ILO) also clearly set the weekly working hours limit at 48 hours during the 2011 tripartite expert meeting," adding, "48 hours per week is the international norm for the weekly working hours cap."
Park Sung-woo, a labor attorney and chairman of the group's Special Committee on Overtime Abuse, emphasized, "All discussions on total working hours regulation, working hours savings accounts, and expansion of flexible work systems promoted by the government only make sense after aligning the working hours cap with the global norm."
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced in March a reform plan for the working hours system that expands the management unit of extended working hours, which was previously limited to a weekly basis, to monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual units.
The overall cap remains, but the intention was to allow longer working hours during busy periods and more rest during less busy times.
However, as concerns about public backlash and health rights grew over the fact that this would legally allow so-called "up to 69 hours of work per week (based on 6 days per week)," the Ministry conducted surveys and group in-depth interviews (FGI) with 6,000 citizens. According to the ministry, the survey results are expected to be announced in early next month after the Chuseok holiday.
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