The Long Road Ahead for the 'Working Hours Reduction System'... Low Utilization and Concentration Among Women and Caregiving Roles

Reasons for Reduced Working Hours: Family Care Tops at 86.8%
Women Use It 2.6 Times More Than Men... Many Use It for Less Than 6 Months
"Work-Life Balance Job Incentives Solve Barriers to Reduced Working Hours"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] It has been revealed that about 80% of domestic large corporations have introduced the 'Working Hours Reduction System.' However, only 3 out of 10 large corporations actually utilized the working hours reduction system.

The number of female workers who applied for working hours reduction was 2.6 times higher than that of male workers, and the reasons for application were heavily concentrated on family care (86.8%).

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the results of the 'Survey on the Utilization Status of the Working Hours Reduction System,' conducted by entrusting the Industry Cooperation Group of Pusan National University, on the 27th. This survey was conducted targeting HR managers of 550 workplaces with five or more employees as of July.

The working hours reduction system guarantees workers the right to apply to their employers for a reduction in prescribed working hours for reasons such as family care, personal health, retirement preparation, or studies.

Following the amendment of the Act on Gender Equality in Employment and Work-Family Balance Support last August, employers are obligated to approve workers' applications unless there are exceptional reasons. The implementation period starts this year with public institutions and workplaces with 300 or more employees, and will be phased in by company size until 2022.

According to the survey results, the system adoption rate among large corporations with 300 or more employees, which are subject to the law this year, reached 79.9%. Workplaces with 30 or more employees, which are scheduled for next year's law enforcement, had an adoption rate of 48.8%, and those with fewer than 30 employees had 22.9%, showing variation by company size.

The utilization rate was relatively low compared to the adoption rate. The proportion of workplaces with 300 or more employees that actually utilized the working hours reduction system was only 26.6%.

The most common reason for not utilizing the working hours reduction system in workplaces with 300 or more employees was 'wage reduction (49.2%).'

Following that were 'increased workload for colleagues (20.0%),' 'limited reasons for application (10.2%),' 'lack of awareness of the system (8.9%),' and 'concern about supervisors' perception (3.6%).'

Regarding policies needed to activate the system, respondents cited 'compensation for wage reduction (39.7%)' and 'creation of a substitute workforce pool (25.96%).'

Among the reasons for application, family care (86.8%) was overwhelmingly high, followed by personal health (7.4%), studies (5.5%), and retirement preparation (0.3%).

By gender of applicants, women (72.3%) were 2.6 times more than men (27.7%). This is interpreted as due to the much higher application rate of women (75.3%) than men for family care reasons.

By age group, those in their 30s accounted for more than half (58.0%), followed by those in their 40s (29.5%) and 20s (6.6%). Regarding the application period, less than 3 months accounted for half (51.4%), indicating that short-term use of less than 6 months was common.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, "The utilization rate of the system in workplaces with 300 or more employees is only 26.6%, and the concentration on workers in their 30s, women, and family care reasons shows that the working hours reduction system has not yet been widely utilized."

The Ministry stated that to resolve the biggest obstacles revealed in the utilization status of the working hours reduction system, the 'Work-Life Balance Job Incentive' can be actively used.

The Work-Life Balance Job Incentive is a system that supports employers for up to one year (one year and two months for substitute workers) with wage reduction compensation, indirect labor costs, and substitute worker wages when the prescribed weekly working hours are reduced to 15?35 hours.

Hwang Bo-guk, Director of Employment Support Policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "The working hours reduction claim system is significant in that it opens the way for workers to autonomously decide their working hours," adding, "We will closely monitor the utilization status of the system and spare no support until the working hours reduction system is established in all workplaces."

Detailed information about the working hours reduction system and the Work-Life Balance Job Incentive system can be found on the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Work-Life Balance website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.