25% of Companies with Fewer Than 50 Employees "Not Ready for 52-Hour Workweek"

Already 30% of Implementing Companies Find It 'Difficult'... "Need for System Improvements Such as Flexible Work System Reform"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Starting from July, the 52-hour workweek system will be implemented for companies with fewer than 50 employees. However, it was found that about one-quarter of the applicable companies have not yet completed preparations. Additionally, one-third of companies with 50 or more employees, which are already implementing the system, are experiencing management difficulties due to the 52-hour workweek.

The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) announced on the 7th that these findings came from a survey titled "Current Status of 52-Hour Workweek Implementation and Corporate Difficulties," conducted on 319 domestic companies.

According to KEF's survey regarding the preparation status of companies with fewer than 50 employees for the 52-hour workweek, 74.3% of respondents said "no special preparation is necessary." On the other hand, 10.5% answered "not prepared," and 11.4% said "preparing but unlikely to complete by July." Including 3.8% who responded "preparing and can complete by July," the total percentage of companies not ready for the 52-hour workweek reached 25.7%.

The reasons for not completing preparations included "lack of operating hours during specific periods (63.0%)," "difficulty in hiring skilled personnel (55.6%)," "lack of expertise and administrative capacity (37.0%)," "business deterioration due to the COVID-19 pandemic (25.9%)," and "cost burdens such as facility investments (18.5%)."

Regarding demands for preparing for the 52-hour workweek, 74.1% of respondents said the implementation should be postponed, and 63.0% requested a grace period. Other demands included "improvement of flexible working hours (37.0%)," "support for additional hiring and facility investment costs (18.5%)," and "provision of comprehensive consulting (3.7%)."

KEF emphasized, "Small and micro enterprises with fewer than 50 employees find it difficult to respond to reduced working hours due to their business conditions. Moreover, since the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, it is necessary to postpone the implementation or provide a grace period for the 52-hour workweek for companies with fewer than 50 employees."

Among companies with 50 or more employees currently implementing the 52-hour workweek, 69.6% responded that they are "adapting well without difficulties," but 30.4% (21.5% somewhat difficult, 8.9% very difficult) reported experiencing difficulties, nearly one-third.

Regarding the use of flexible working hours systems, 43.9% of respondents selected the "flexible working hours system," followed by the selective working hours system (19.7%), discretionary working hours system (7.5%), special extended working hours approval system (5.0%), and deemed working hours system (3.4%). The main reasons for difficulties in utilizing flexible working hours were "restrictions on applicable tasks and periods (36.2%)" and "difficulty in fulfilling procedures such as agreement with employee representatives (25.1%)."

Meanwhile, concerning improvements to the working hours system including the 52-hour workweek, 58.6% of all companies surveyed chose "expanding overtime limits during workload surges." Other popular suggestions included changing overtime limits from weekly to monthly or yearly (52.4%), improving flexible working hours systems (51.4%), removing criminal penalties for working hours violations (23.2%), and introducing exemptions for high-income and professional workers (14.1%).

Jang Jung-woo, head of KEF’s Labor Policy Department, stated, "Since companies are expressing many difficulties due to reduced working hours, it is urgent to improve flexible working systems and provide additional preparation time for companies with fewer than 50 employees."

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