Bio Firms Calling for Eased 52-hour Workweek Rule
An increasing number of South Korean biotech companies are calling for the government to relax the 52-hour workweek regulation. COVID-19 test kit manufacturers are saying that they would fail to meet their orders due to the regulation and labs working on COVID-19 drugs are saying that they are conducting inefficient clinical trials due to the regulation.
The same applies to information technology startups and subcontractors in the manufacturing sector such as auto parts suppliers. Experts point out that the regulation needs to be relaxed at least temporarily.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, 52-hour workweek in workplaces with less than 300 employees is not mandatory until the end of this year and exceptional overtime is possible when there is a business-related reason. Although the ministry is saying that these buffers are sufficient, the overtime approval based on a business-related reason is limited to four weeks a year and the approval must be requested for each case. The complex procedure is why more and more employers are calling for flextime expansion based on an employer-employee agreement.
Employees are opposed to the expansion though. “The expansion is to force us to work more to be more exact and social dialogues related to that issue are not enough yet,” they said. At present, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions is opposed to adding to reasons for exceptional overtime approval although it is in favor of extending the flextime unit period from three months to six months. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is arguing that every type of flextime needs to be maintained as it is.