6 Day Work Week?

Recently an article in the New York Times, “Declaring ‘Crisis’, South Korean Firms Tell Managers to Work 6 Days a Week”, discussed mounting pressure being placed on management at Korean firms to work more time to deal with the challenging economic situation. Employers in Korea may be surprised or confused at how employees could be asked to work extra days when labor law passed as recently as 2018 capped total working hours 52 per week (40 standard hours and 12 overtime hours). How can employers then request an additional working day?

First would be the classification of executives’ employment under the Labor Standards Act (LSA). The maximum number of hours worked hours only applies to employees but does not apply to employers. It could be that executive contracts may be deemed as employer contracts and accordingly, no maximum hour cap would apply. Some of the criteria for determining a worker’s classification include the amount of supervision required to do a job, the way remuneration is determined, predetermined working times, amongst others. However, not all executives are classified as employers, and ‘registered directors’ are not categorized as employees.

Another possible exception is the allowance for ‘management and supervision personnel’. LSA acknowledges the exception of ‘management and supervision personnel’ in only a very limited manner. This concept differs from the concept of an ‘exempt employee’ found in the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”) of the USA. The exempt individual must have the authority to determine policy for the management of the employment relations or the authority to control the labor and employment management, in addition to other legal requirements.

Third, it could be that even with six working days, the 52 hour per week limit was not breached. While this argument would likely face scrutiny, working 6 days a week for 8 hours would technically still only amount to 48 hours of work per week. If both the company and employee agreed on the arrangement, it may also be permissible.

Whatever the case, it is important to note that violating established labor laws can have serious consequences. Any employer requests for changing the nature of employees’ contracted scope or nature of work may have legal implications. It would be important to first evaluate potential changes and consult with local labor and employment counsel like InterLEX to ensure a safe and seamless transition of responsibilities.