"The Hardships of Irregular Workers"… 47% Can't Even Freely Use Annual Leave

Jikjang Gapjil 119 Survey of 1,000 Workers
"Double Structure in Wages and Even Vacation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Nearly half of South Korea's non-regular workers, 47.3%, are unable to freely use even the legally guaranteed paid annual leave.

On the 15th, the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 released the results of a recent survey on vacation usage conducted with 1,000 office workers. The survey found that regular workers, employees at workplaces with 300 or more employees, and workers earning more than 5 million KRW per month use their vacation much more freely compared to non-regular workers, employees at workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, and workers earning less than 1.5 million KRW per month.

[Image source=Getty Images Bank]

When asked, "Do you freely use paid annual leave?" 47.3% of non-regular workers answered "No, I cannot use it freely." Similarly, 49.4% of workers at workplaces with fewer than 5 employees and 55.6% of workers earning less than 1.5 million KRW per month gave the same response. In contrast, 81.3% of regular workers said they "freely use paid annual leave." Workers at workplaces with 300 or more employees (84.0%) and workers earning more than 5 million KRW per month (90.2%) tended to use their vacation without restrictions, showing that those working at larger companies or earning higher wages had more freedom in taking leave.

Non-regular workers were also found to be unable to properly use paid holidays including traditional holidays, summer vacation, paid sick leave, and maternity leave. The percentage of respondents who said they "freely use paid holidays such as traditional holidays" was high among regular workers (84%), workers at workplaces with 300 or more employees (77.0%), and workers earning more than 5 million KRW per month (87.4%). However, the rates were relatively low among non-regular workers (46%), workers at workplaces with fewer than 5 employees (51.9%), and workers earning less than 1.5 million KRW per month (35.5%). Additionally, only 35.8% of non-regular workers said they freely took summer vacation, whereas 55.0% of regular workers reported freely taking summer vacation.

The situation was similar for maternity leave and parental leave usage. Among female office workers, 44.7%, non-regular workers 54.3%, and workers earning less than 1.5 million KRW per month 65.3% responded that they could not freely use maternity leave. Regarding parental leave, 50.2% of women, 56.0% of non-regular workers, 66.7% of workers at workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, and 62.9% of workers earning less than 1.5 million KRW per month said they could not freely take parental leave.

According to Article 60 (Annual Paid Leave) of the Labor Standards Act, employers must grant 15 days of paid leave to workers who have attended work at least 80% of the year, and this leave must be given at the time requested by the worker. However, if granting leave at the requested time causes significant disruption to business operations, the timing may be changed.

Jang Jongsu, a labor attorney at Workplace Bullying 119, said, "The dual structure of the labor market is not limited to wage gaps but extends broadly to issues of vacation and work-life balance," adding, "If we want to protect workers at workplaces with fewer than 5 employees and non-regular workers, legal penalties are necessary."

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