If Health Protection for Overtime Workers Is Neglected, Up to 2 Years Imprisonment... Preparing for Expansion of Flexible Work System

Ministry of Employment Announces Follow-up Measures After June 6 Implementation of 52-Hour Workweek Supplementary Legislation
Expansion of Flexible Work System... Need to Protect Health Due to Increased Overtime Concentration
Within 8 Hours per Week & Minimum 11 Hours Rest Between Workdays
Must Observe at Least One of Three Rules Including Rest After Overtime... Violation Punishable by Up to 2 Years Imprisonment

Minister Lee Jae-gap of the Ministry of Employment and Labor visiting Mediana in Wonju, Gangwon Province, in March last year to tour the production line utilizing the special extended working hours system. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] From now on, employers who require workers to perform special extended work hours (special overtime) without implementing health protection measures will face imprisonment of up to two years. While the Labor Standards Act only stated that "appropriate measures must be taken as determined by the Minister of Employment and Labor," the government has now established clear standards and announced the related notice.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 1st that it will enact and enforce detailed health protection measures for employers through a public notice starting from the 6th. Since the supplementary legislation for the 52-hour workweek system will be enforced from the 6th, this follow-up measure has been introduced accordingly. Health protection measures for special overtime workers are included in the supplementary legislation for the 52-hour workweek, along with the introduction of a flexible working hours system and the extension of the settlement period for the selective working hours system for research and development (R&D) tasks. It is expected that as systems allowing flexible adjustment of working hours according to work types become more active due to this legislation, special overtime will increase, and thus employers have been assigned the duty to manage workers' health. Special overtime is a system that allows employers to require workers to work additional extended hours beyond the statutory overtime limit of 12 hours per week under the Labor Standards Act, with the worker's consent and approval from the Minister of Employment and Labor, in cases of special circumstances such as equipment failure or a surge in workload. The maximum special overtime is up to 8 hours per week.

Going forward, employers must mandatorily comply with at least one of the following: ▲ operate special overtime within 8 hours per week, ▲ provide a continuous rest period of at least 11 hours between the end of one working day and the start of the next, or ▲ grant rest time during or after special overtime. Employers who fail to comply with these obligations will be subject to imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million KRW under Article 53 of the Labor Standards Act. In the case of providing rest time during or after special overtime, if the special overtime period is less than one week, rest time equal to the special overtime hours must be given; if it is one week or longer, a continuous rest period of at least 24 hours (one day) per week must be provided.

Additionally, employers must notify workers in writing before special overtime that they can undergo a health examination. Employers must allow workers to receive health examinations upon request. Previously, this notification was not mandatory, but the new notice requires prior written notification. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official explained, "Until now, since it was only a guideline, many workers did not know they could receive health examinations and thus did not get examined. To prevent such cases, this has now been made mandatory through the notice."

The notice will be enforced starting from the 6th. In the field, it will apply from the moment special overtime is approved after the enforcement date. Park Jongpil, head of the Labor Inspection Policy Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "With the health protection measures for special overtime stipulated by law and reflected in the notice, workers' right to health will be more strongly protected. We will guide and supervise workplaces to ensure related laws are properly followed and pay close attention to workplace inspections to prevent misuse or overuse of special overtime."

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