'Free Overtime' That Starts with a KakaoTalk Ping... 'We Still Haven't Left Work Yet'

Workplace Gapjil 119 Surveys 1,000 Workers
81% Say "A Law Banning Contact After Working Hours Is Necessary"

More than 6 out of 10 office workers said they had received work-related contact from their company after work or during holidays and vacations over the past year, according to a recent survey.

On February 22, the civic group Workplace Gapjil 119 released the results of a survey it commissioned from the public opinion research firm Global Research, conducted from October 1 to 14 last year on 1,000 office workers aged 19 or older nationwide. According to the survey, 66% of respondents said that in the past year they had received work-related contact from their company after work or on weekends, public holidays, or vacation days.

Office workers are walking through the four-way intersection at Sejong-ro in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The most common frequency of work-related contact received after working hours was 1 to 3 times a month, at 21.2%. This was followed by 1 to 2 times a week (20.6%), 1 to 10 times a year (18.6%), and 3 or more times a week (5.6%). Among the 660 respondents who had received work-related contact after working hours or on holidays, 30.8% said they had been contacted after 10 p.m. When these respondents were asked why they had been contacted outside working hours, nearly half, or 46%, answered that “the reason for the contact was not an urgent matter related to company operations.”

Among respondents who had received work-related contact after working hours or on holidays, 30.5% said they carried out the instructions somewhere other than the workplace. A total of 60.6% said they handled the matter after coming to work the next day, while only 8.9% said they did not respond.

A large majority of all respondents, 80.5%, replied “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” when asked whether they support legislation that bans work-related contact after working hours. Amendments to the Labor Standards Act to guarantee the “right to disconnect” after work have been introduced several times, but were automatically scrapped at the end of the terms of both the 20th and 21st National Assembly. At present, bills proposed by Democratic Party lawmaker Park Hongbae and People Power Party lawmaker Kim Wisang are pending in the 22nd National Assembly.

Workplace Gapjil 119 pointed out that many workers are suffering from violations of their right to rest and from “free labor,” and noted that incessant work-related contact at all hours can constitute workplace harassment. Attorney Jung Soyeon of Workplace Gapjil 119 said, “Cases of workers complaining of fatigue due to being constantly connected regardless of working hours are increasing,” and stressed, “They must be promptly protected through legislation.”