South Korea eyes ensuring days off for Christmas, Buddha’s birthday
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The Dec 25 holiday for Christmas and Buddha’s birthday are already national holidays in South Korea.
PHOTO: AFP
SEOUL – South Korea is looking to allow a day off on Monday if holidays for Christmas or Buddha’s birthday fall on a weekend, in a bid to boost the economy and give people more time off in the country where workers log some of the longest hours in the developed world.
The proposal announced on Wednesday comes after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government appeared to back down from a plan to raise the cap on the maximum number of hours in the work week to 69, after facing complaints the move goes against global trends to reduce hours and could damage a healthy work-life balance.
The Dec 25 holiday for Christmas and Buddha’s birthday, which depends on the lunar calendar and falls on a Saturday, May 27, 2023, are already national holidays in South Korea and the move would ensure a weekday off if the holidays fall on the weekend.
With the two days included as days off, South Korea has 16 national holidays, more than the 10 celebrated in the United States.
South Korea is already the most overworked country in Asia, with employees logging an average of 1,915 hours in 2021.
This is 199 hours more than the average among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and about 33 per cent more than in Germany.
While South Korea has been examining work hours, countries including Australia and Britain are considering a four-day work week aimed at giving workers more time away from the office.
The office of Mr Yoon instructed relevant agencies to reconsider plans to revise the current cap of 52 hours and “communicate better with the public, especially with Generation Z and millennials”, press secretary Kim Eun-hye said in a statement on Tuesday.
His administration had sought to raise the cap to allow employers greater flexibility to keep their doors open longer to meet demands during periods of peak activity.
It was also designed to help workers bank more hours that could be used for time off at periods convenient for them.
But labour unions, including those led by outspoken members of the country’s millennials and Generation Z, said the proposal would lead to more time on the job and undermine progress the country has made in reducing average working hours that rank among the highest in the developed world. Bloomberg
