"Looks Like I Won't Be Able to Use It This Year Either" - Office Workers Hesitant to Take Annual Leave as Year-End Approaches

7 out of 10 Say "I Didn't Use All My Annual Leave"
Office Workers Feel Pressure to Use Year-End Leave... Some Work on Leave Days
Mandatory Use of Annual Leave Is Illegal Under Current Law... Must Be Granted When Requested by Employees

Citizens wearing masks are moving in Gwanghwamun, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] A (28), an office worker employed at a small-to-medium enterprise in Seoul, is stressed over the issue of using up her annual leave. Although she has 7 days of annual leave remaining, it is practically difficult to take time off due to pressure from her supervisor. A said, "Every time I tried to use annual leave for personal reasons, I had to watch my supervisor's reaction," adding, "Recently, when I asked if I could use the remaining leave around the end of the year, I only received sarcastic remarks like 'If you go, who will do the work?' and 'What about the others?'" She added, "I haven't been able to use all my annual leave so far, so how can I use it all in the remaining two months? Even if I can take a day or two, it would be fortunate. I don't think I will be able to use it all this year either."

As the year-end approaches and companies encourage employees to use their paid leave, more office workers are struggling with taking time off. Some employees say they cannot use their annual leave due to work burdens. According to the Labor Standards Act, employees who have attended work at least 80% of the year are guaranteed 15 days of paid annual leave, but due to workplace atmosphere and pressure from supervisors and colleagues, it is practically difficult to use up annual leave.

The government introduced the Annual Leave Usage Promotion System in 2003 to guarantee workers' right to rest. This system exempts employers from the obligation to compensate financially for unused annual leave that has expired if the employer has promoted the use of annual leave according to the law but the employee did not use it.

Initially, this applied only to employees who attended work at least 80% of the year. According to the Labor Standards Act promulgated in March, the usage promotion system now also applies to paid annual leave for employees with less than one year of service and those who attended work less than 80% of the year.

However, many employees still fail to use their annual leave due to reasons such as department management, busy work, and pressure from supervisors. Even if they want to use annual leave, it is practically impossible.

Some say they "only use annual leave on paper but still come to work," while others complain that "they are forced to take annual leave on dates designated by the company, not on the days they want."

As a result, there are ongoing criticisms that workers' right to rest is not properly guaranteed. B (26), an office worker in her second year, shared her grievance, saying, "I recently had to come to work even after taking annual leave."

B said, "I had already obtained approval from my team members and supervisor in advance, and all the paperwork was completed. However, on the day itself, I received a message saying, 'The work is urgent, so come to the office and handle it.' I was afraid of personnel disadvantages, so I had no choice but to go to work, but it was very frustrating. I was told that the approval was already completed and the annual leave was processed as used," she added.

Footage related to annual leave / Photo by Yonhap News

According to a survey, 7 out of 10 office workers have not used all their annual leave.

According to a survey conducted by the employment portal JobKorea in December last year targeting 1,451 office workers on the status of annual leave usage, only 27% of respondents answered that they "used all" their leave. Among the 73% who answered that they "did not use all," 61% said they "would not be able to use their remaining leave" either.

The average number of unused annual leave days among workers who did not use their leave was 4.9 days. For managers and above, it was 5.6 days; for assistant managers and deputy managers, 5.5 days; and for staff level, 4.6 days. They cited reasons such as "feeling pressured by supervisors and colleagues" and "too much work" for not using their annual leave.

Meanwhile, under the current Labor Standards Act, employers must grant annual leave at the time requested by the employee and cannot force the use of leave.

According to Article 60 of the Labor Standards Act, employers must grant leave according to the provisions from paragraphs 1 to 4 at the time requested by the employee, and pay the ordinary or average wage as stipulated in employment rules or other regulations for that period.

However, if granting leave at the requested time would cause significant disruption to business operations, the employer may change the timing. Criteria for judging significant disruption include company size, nature of work, workload, difficulty in assigning substitutes, and the number of employees requesting leave at the same time. If leave usage is forced without separate regulations or significant business disruption, it constitutes abuse of rights and is illegal.

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