(VOVWORLD) - South Korea wants to reduce weekend work at administrative agencies. There has been growing criticism from Koreans who lack a healthy work-leisure balance. A state employee reportedly died last September of a heart attack due to work pressure.
Seoul’s city government has taken steps to reduce overtime work in the public sector, mandating that all computers at City Hall and its Seosomun annex be powered down at 8 p.m last Friday. The automatic shut-down of computers will be implemented at 7:30 p.m. every second and fourth Friday next month and extended in frequency so that computers are shut off at 7 p.m. every Friday in May.
Other Seoul government buildings, like the Mugyo annex building and the Office of Infrastructure, will also adopt the new policy in the near future.
The city previously tried to reduce stress from overtime work by designating every Wednesday and Friday “Family Day,” but that failed to produce results. Many employees still reported working overtime on a significant number of days of the week.
The South Korean National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee in February adopted a bill to cut legal work hours. The revised regulations will apply to companies with more than 300 employees starting July 1, and to companies with 50 to 299 employees on July 1st , 2020. Maximum work hours for people 15 to 18 years old will be 40 hours rather than 46 hours as at present.
South Korean government employees work 2,738 hours per year on average while other employees work 2,271 hours per year. The average annual working hours of public servants in other developed nations is 1,763 hours.
Cutting work hours is part of President Moon Jae-in’s commitment to generate jobs, improve life quality, and prevent population aging.