Work Hours
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Working hours shall not exceed forty hours a week and eight hours a day, excluding recess hours. Upon calculating working hours, any waiting hours, etc. spent by employees under the direction and supervision of their employers that are necessary for the relevant work shall be deemed working hours.
Maximum Limit on Overtime Work
Under the Labor Standards Act revised in March 2018, companies that employ 300 or more workers can extend their working hours by up to 12 hours per week from July 2018, which brings the maximum weekly working hours up to 52 hours. This will be applied to companies with 50 or more employees from January 1, 2020 and then to those with 5 or more employees from July 1, 2020. From July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022, when an employer who regularly employees fewer than 30 full-time employees enters into a written agreement with the labor representative, the employer may extend working hours up to 8 hours per week, in addition to the working hours extended as detailed above.Recess Hours
Employers shall allow their employees a recess of not less than thirty minutes in cases of working for four hours, or a recess of not less than one hour in cases of working for eight hours, during working hours.Flexible Work System
This system allows for the flexible operation of decision-making and arrangement of working hours, which means that working hours may be allocated according to the amount of work or workers themselves may make decisions on work allocation thereby allowing for the operation of working hours in a flexible and efficient manner.
| Type of Working Hours System | Details |
|---|---|
| Flexible Work Hour System | To observe the statutory average working hours for a certain period of time, the working hours of a certain day are extended while those of another day are reduced. |
| Selective Work Hours System | Workers freely set their work hours including overtime work for a period within one month, with the weekly work hours not exceeding an average of 52 hours per week. |
| Deemed Hours of Work Outside the Workplace | When it is difficult to calculate the work hours provided by an employee who carried out all or part of their duties outside the workplace due to a business trip or any other reason, it shall be deemed that the employee has worked for the contractual working hours. |
| Discretionary Work Hours System | For any work prescribed by Presidential Decree which requires an employer to leave the method of performing work to an employee’s discretion due to the nature of the work, it shall be deemed that the work has been performed for such working hours as determined by a written agreement between the employer and a labor representative. |
| Compensatory Leave System | An employer may grant employees leaves in lieu of wage payments for overtime work, night work, or holiday work pursuant to Article 56 of the Labor Standards Act according to a written agreement with a union representative. |
※ Related law : Articles 51, 52, 57 and 58 of the Labor Standards Act