68% of Employees in Workplaces with Fewer Than 5 People Take Less Than 6 Days Off in a Year

Restrictions on Annual Leave for Non-Regular Workers Stand Out

It was found that 68% of workers at workplaces with fewer than 5 regular employees were unable to use even 6 days of annual leave within a year. Additionally, the proportion of non-regular workers who could not use up to 6 days of annual leave reached 64%, as their leave was more restricted compared to regular employees.

On the 8th, office workers are seen commuting at the Gwanghwamun intersection in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The civic group Workplace Bullying 119 announced on the 24th that these results came from a survey conducted by the polling firm Global Research from the 2nd to the 13th of last month, targeting 1,000 workers aged 19 and older nationwide.

In this survey, 67.9% of workers at workplaces with fewer than 5 employees answered that they used less than 6 days of annual leave last year. This gap was significant compared to the 16.1% of respondents at workplaces with 300 or more employees who reported using less than 6 days of annual leave.

Only 12.1% of workers at workplaces with fewer than 5 employees reported using 15 or more days of annual leave last year. Workplace Bullying 119 pointed out that because the Labor Standards Act’s annual leave regulations do not apply to workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, workers are unable to even exercise their right to rest.

Looking at all responses, the most common answer was that annual leave used was less than 6 days, at 37.8%. This was followed by 9 days or more but less than 12 days (17.3%), 15 days or more (16.3%), 12 days or more but less than 15 days (15.0%), and 6 days or more but less than 9 days (13.6%) in that order.

By employment type, 20.3% of regular employees responded that they used less than 6 days of annual leave, whereas the figure for non-regular employees was as high as 64.0%.

Additionally, 34.5% of all respondents said they "cannot freely use annual leave." The smaller the workplace size and the more non-regular the employment, the higher this rate was.

Workplace Bullying 119 also specifically disclosed cases where employers obstructed the use of annual leave by notifying dismissal for requesting same-day leave, forcing medical certificates as proof, and unjustifiably attaching more than 3 days of leave to prevent its use.

A representative from Workplace Bullying 119 stated, "Regulations such as annual leave, suspension pay, prevention of workplace harassment, restrictions on extended work hours, and additional pay for holidays, extended hours, and night work do not apply to workplaces with fewer than 5 employees," adding, "The newly formed 22nd National Assembly and government should not delay any further and must fully apply the Labor Standards Act."