[K-Women Talk] The Pros and Cons of the 4.5-Day Workweek Reflected in the Golden Holiday

Concerns Over Economic and Employment Imbalance from Extended Holidays
Gradual Approach Preferred Over Legal Mandate

The long holiday has come to an end. Most office workers, who follow a five-day workweek, enjoyed a seven-day break this year, starting with National Foundation Day on October 3, continuing through the Chuseok holiday, and ending with Hangul Day. It is said that quite a few workers even took an additional company-designated day off on October 10, resulting in an extended ten-day holiday. For office workers who look forward to the red-marked holidays on the calendar at the start of each year, this has been a happy time with many days off.

However, not everyone feels the same way. While regular employees receive their salaries regardless of the length of the holiday, daily workers and self-employed individuals, who only earn money when they work, become anxious as their wallets thin and their bank balances dwindle. Currently, there are about 5.69 million self-employed people in Korea, accounting for 19% of all employed individuals. Although this number has been steadily decreasing compared to the past, it is still quite high compared to advanced economies.

The proportion of non-regular workers among employees stands at 38.2%. Some non-regular workers, such as contract employees on a monthly salary, may not see much impact on their income during holidays, but the growing number of part-time, platform, and freelance workers are not so fortunate. For the self-employed, long holidays can be particularly burdensome. Fixed expenses such as rent remain unchanged, but with reduced business hours, they face a double hardship.

This past January, the government designated January 27 as a temporary holiday, extending the break to up to six days including the weekend. However, the anticipated boost in domestic consumption was minimal, while the number of outbound tourists increased significantly compared to the same month the previous year. This may be why the government did not designate ten days as a temporary holiday during this Chuseok period.

From a macroeconomic perspective, increasing the number of holidays does not simply produce positive effects, so a cautious approach is necessary. In this context, the issue of a 4.5-day workweek warrants consideration. With the 40-hour, five-day workweek now firmly established, the 4.5-day workweek has been proposed as a policy pledge, and implementation plans are underway. The government currently states that it will promote the 4.5-day workweek not by mandating it by law, but by providing incentives for companies to implement it voluntarily.

However, in Korea, where not only weekly but also daily working hours are regulated at eight hours, the 4.5-day workweek would automatically increase labor costs even if total weekly hours remain the same. In other words, if employees work the same 40 hours per week over 4.5 days instead of five, this results in four hours of overtime per week, for which overtime pay must be provided.

Additionally, the 4.5-day workweek is seen as a transitional step toward a four-day workweek. However, it is difficult to judge whether a four-day workweek will ultimately have a positive or negative impact on the national economy. For groups whose income is directly tied to the number of working days, such as the self-employed and part-time workers, the difficulties could intensify. The limited positive impact of previous temporary holidays supports this concern. Ultimately, this could lead to greater social polarization.

Therefore, rather than imposing a 4.5-day workweek across the board, a gradual approach is advisable. Whether it is a four-day or 4.5-day workweek, such changes would significantly alter daily life for Korean citizens, so it would be better to continue with diverse pilot programs at the company level rather than making it a legal requirement. It is also necessary to actively utilize existing systems, such as the right to request reduced working hours during childcare or pre-retirement periods, which are already stipulated by law. Would it not be better for individuals to adjust their working days to suit their circumstances, such as working three or four days a week during childcare periods, rather than having everyone take the same days off and work the same periods? Designing a system that criminalizes not implementing a 4.5-day or four-day workweek would be unreasonable by any standard.

Kim Kyung-sun, Former Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family