New Dawn

The Federation of Korean Industries building (right) makes a unique silhouette in the Seoul skyline.
The Federation of Korean Industries building (right) makes a unique silhouette in the Seoul skyline.

 

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) announced on July 13 that half of the top 30 business groups in Korea – Samsung, SK, LG, Lotte, POSCO, Hanwha, KT, Doosan, Shinsegae, CJ, LS, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Hyundai, KCC and KOLON – have adopted flexible working hours in at least one of its subsidiaries.

According to the FKI, flexible working hours are defined by working for at least eight hours a day between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., or working at least 40 hours five days a week. It added that their flexible working hours are limited to their non-manufacturing employees, six out of 15 applying the policy to each non-manufacturing employee, and five of the others applying it to only office workers and R&D personnel. It was found to be available only for child-caring employees in three business groups, and specific business units in the other one.

The companies allow their employees to change their office hours once a month, every three months, or every six months, so that the system can blend in better. In the meantime, Statistics Korea announced on June 30 that just 16.3 percent of Korean workers, approximately 3.095 million in number, were enjoying flexible working hours as of the end of October last year.

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