- Legislation for working hour reduction discussed during provisional session of the National Assembly
The Environmental & Labor Committee (ELC) in the National Assembly held meetings of its Legislative Subcommittee on the Deliberation of Bills on 28 and 29 August. During the meetings, revisions on the Labor Standards Act were reviewed, mostly about reducing maximum weekly working hours to 52.
Major issues dealt with by the subcommittee were overlapping payment for holiday working hours included in statutory overtime working hours, and a grace period for reduced working hours. In July, the ELC reached a provisional agreement on reducing the types of businesses exempt from the statutory limit of work hours from 26 to 10 (Route buses are also excluded from the exemption).
[Table 3] Working Hour Reduction: Major Issues
| Minjoo Party | Liberty Korea Party | |
| Grace period | · Reduced working hours to be applied on 1 Jan 2019 for workplaces with 300 or more employees
· Apply on 1 Jan 2021 for workplaces with fewer than 300 employees · No punishment for violating statutory working hours during grace period · No additional overtime work hours permitted |
·Reduced working hours to be applied on 1 Jan 2019 for workplaces with 300 or more employees
·Apply on 1 Jan 2021 for workplaces with fewer than 300 employees ·Allow additional overtime work hours for 2 years |
| Overlapping payment for overtime and holiday work | · 150% overtime payment rate during grace period
· 200% overtime payment rate after reduced working hours come into effect |
· 150% overtime payment rate |
※ Reported from the provisional session of the National Assembly in May