"Working 14 Hours a Day, Earning 2.35 Million Won a Month... Resigned After Proposal to Endure for the Future"

A story about an office worker at a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) who eventually resigned after suffering from overwork is gaining sympathy.

On the 24th, a netizen A, who recently resigned, shared their story on an online community for SME employees. A, who lives with their mother, explained that after getting the job, they suffered from overwork, working from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. three days a week out of five. They also had to endure 2 to 3 night shifts per month separately.

However, the company did not pay overtime allowances, so the amount of money A could take home was only 2.35 million won per month. A said, "I didn’t even have time to talk with my mother," adding, "Every day, my mother ate dinner alone, prepared meals for me to eat when I came home from work, and waited until she got tired and fell asleep."

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Eventually, A went to the company representative and said, "I want to have a proper meal with my mother. Since joining this company, I have never had a proper dinner with her," and told them, "I am quitting."

However, upon hearing A’s intention to resign, the boss suggested, "How about enduring it for the future?" There was no adjustment to working hours or even consolation directed at A. Feeling strong doubts, A decided to resign.

A said, "Eating and talking with my mother is really nothing special. It’s a very trivial thing," adding, "If I can’t even do such a trivial thing, I don’t think I can work at a company." Although A became unemployed after leaving the company, their mother’s expression reportedly improved.

It is not uncommon for workers to work beyond the legal working hours or during nights and holidays without receiving additional pay. The situation is especially severe for workers at SMEs or small corporations.

In particular, this kind of "free overtime" worsens due to the abuse of the comprehensive wage system. The comprehensive wage system is a system where allowances for work beyond fixed working hours are predetermined and paid together with the base salary on payday. While it can be useful for jobs where extended work is routine, some companies set the allowance lower than the actual working hours, causing free overtime.

Because of this, some workplaces abolish the comprehensive wage system through labor-management consultations. The Kakao Group, which abolished the comprehensive wage system in several affiliates in 2022, is a representative example. Earlier, the government and ruling party also began preparing comprehensive measures last year to prevent the misuse and abuse of the comprehensive wage system.

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