"While Others Rest, Nearly 3 Million May Work Substitute Public Holidays Without Extra Pay"

No Paid Holidays for Businesses with Fewer than Five Employees

Holiday Pay Unlikely Even If Working on Public Holidays

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It has been found that nearly 3 million workers employed at businesses with fewer than five employees will not be guaranteed a statutory paid holiday for the substitute public holiday for Buddha's Birthday (May 25).

According to the "Status of Population by Workplace Size (Workplace)" data from the National Statistical Portal (KOSIS) released on May 21, as of 2024, out of a total of 2,020,684 workplaces subscribed to workplace health insurance, 1,368,866 are businesses with fewer than five employees. This accounts for 67.7% of all workplaces.

The number of workers employed at businesses with fewer than five employees has been tallied at approximately 2.98 million, representing 16.5% of the total 18,028,729 workplace health insurance subscribers.

Moreover, when including workers at small businesses not enrolled in the four major social insurances, the actual number of people excluded from substitute public holiday benefits is likely to be even greater.

The reason millions of workers are excluded from holiday welfare lies in the current Labor Standards Act. The law excludes certain provisions of the Labor Standards Act from applying to businesses with fewer than five regular employees.

Consequently, Article 55 of the Labor Standards Act, which guarantees public holidays and substitute public holidays as paid leave, does not apply to businesses with fewer than five employees.

Unless the employer voluntarily grants holidays, employees who go to work on statutory or substitute public holidays cannot claim holiday work pay. Unlike ordinary office workers, these employees are not entitled to the 1.5 times regular wage usually paid as holiday compensation.

This reflects the practical limitations faced by small businesses, where difficult staffing conditions make it hard to apply statutory holidays uniformly.

Some argue that it is inappropriate not to guarantee the right to rest on statutory public holidays. They contend that a worker’s fundamental rights should not be discriminated against due to the external factor of business size.

The Korea Labor Institute, a government-funded research institute in employment and labor, stated in a report last year, "It is unfair to treat workers at businesses with fewer than five employees unfavorably due to the accidental circumstance of workplace size," and suggested, "There is a risk of violating the constitutional right to equality, so a review is necessary."

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