Ministry of Employment Announces Results of Long Working Hours Inspection... 95% Violated Labor Laws

Labor Inspection Conducted at 498 Workplaces
95% (470 Sites) Found Violating Labor Laws

Minister Lee Jeong-sik Briefs on Labor Market Reform Direction
(Sejong=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Joo-hyung = On the morning of June 23, Minister Lee Jeong-sik of the Ministry of Employment and Labor held a briefing at the Government Complex Sejong regarding the direction of labor market reform. 2022.6.23
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] It was revealed that 95% of the 498 workplaces subject to labor inspections by the Ministry of Employment and Labor violated labor-related laws.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 28th that, as a result of conducting labor inspections on 498 workplaces, including 340 care industry sites and 158 vulnerable industries by region, from March to June, 470 sites (94.4%) violated labor-related laws. The Ministry detected a total of 2,252 cases of labor law violations. Of these, 2,249 cases were corrected, and fines were imposed on the remaining 3 cases.

Specifically, among the 498 workplaces subject to inspection, 48 sites (9.6%) violated the limits on overtime work. The average overtime worked by employees at violating workplaces was 6.4 hours per week beyond the 52-hour weekly limit. In particular, among the 340 care industry sites, 8 workplaces that violated the overtime limit worked an average of 9.7 additional hours per week. Among the 158 vulnerable industry sites by region, 40 sites worked an average of 5.8 hours overtime per week.

Status of workers exceeding 52 hours per week among all employees at workplaces violating extended working hour limits.
[Photo by Ministry of Employment and Labor]

The Ministry’s investigation found that the main reason for violating the overtime limits was the unpredictability of workplace conditions. In the care industry, major reasons for violations included "increased workload for remaining workers due to shift workers’ vaccination and COVID-19 infections," "increase in the number of care service recipients," and "increased workload due to audit preparations." For vulnerable industries by region, reasons cited were "surge in order volumes," "chronic recruitment difficulties," and "negligence in managing working hours."

Additionally, among the 498 workplaces subject to inspection, 193 sites (38.8%) did not pay employees holiday work allowances and other wages. The unpaid wages detected by the Ministry amounted to approximately 1.7 billion KRW. The unpaid amounts in the care industry and vulnerable industries by region were 550 million KRW and 1.14 billion KRW, respectively.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor indicated its intention to reform the 52-hour workweek system. Lee Jeong-han, Director of Labor Policy at the Ministry, said, "Overall, workplaces comply with the 52-hour workweek, but there are cases where one or two workers temporarily exceed the 52-hour limit," adding, "In cases like these violations, we need to consider whether the current labor hour regulations are reasonable." He added, "If we expand the choices available to companies and workers to flexibly respond to intermittent and temporary difficulties while complying with the 52-hour system, it will benefit both labor and management."

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