<Anchor> It is a
friendly economic time. Today (19th) will be with reporter Kim Hye-min. Reporter Kim, it’s a day off today, but I can’t even take a break. Since today is a public holiday, you said you'd like to talk about a holiday?
<Reporter>
That's right. It's also sad news for office workers, but today is the last day this year on a public holiday on weekdays.
Among the remaining holidays, Hangeul Day and Christmas Day are Saturdays. Memorial Day, Liberation Day, and Foundation Day are Sundays. It all overlaps with the weekend.
There is a'Alternative Holiday System' that allows you to take a day off on weekdays when it overlaps with the weekend, but it only applies to Lunar New Year's Day, Chuseok, and Children's Day.
So, except for Chuseok in September, there will be no days off on weekdays. Not surprisingly, this year has fewer total holidays than other years.
Based on the '5 days a week' system, the total number of holidays this year is 113 days, which is two days less than last year. It was four days less than in 2019. For office workers, the rest of the year feels a bit tough.
<Anchor> It
is really sad to hear that there are no days off on weekdays this year except for Chuseok in September. Then, as I said earlier, there is an alternative holiday instead. But now it doesn't apply, so the National Assembly said that a bill like'Let's expand alternative holidays' was initiated?
<Reporter>
It's a bill that was introduced on the 10th. Kang Hospital, a member of the Democratic Party, representatively proposed the'Law on Holidays'.
It is the content that the alternative holiday system will be extended to all public holidays. If this bill is passed, you can take one day off on a weekday, if any holiday is on the weekend.
Also, there may be workers who work on weekends and rest on weekdays. Some of these people are supposed to be guaranteed an alternative holiday when the original holiday overlaps with a public holiday.
According to the Clinic's Office of Kang Hospital, as of 2019, the annual working hours per worker in Korea is 1,967 hours, which is the second longest among OECD member countries after Mexico.
However, the labor productivity per employee is lower than the OECD average. It means that working long hours doesn't mean high productivity.
<Anchor>
Reporter Kim, right now it's a bill to designate an alternative holiday if the holiday falls on a weekend, it's a corporation that wants to expand it a bit. But you said that when the day of the week was designated, a bill like this came out?
<Reporter> This is
a content that is already implemented in some foreign countries. If I first explain what the holiday system for specifying days of the week is, it is a system in which holidays are designated as days of the week, not as specific days like in Korea. The United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom are already in use on some public holidays.
Hong Ik-pyo, together with Democratic Party lawmakers, proposed to introduce a holiday system with designated days on Hangeul Day, Children's Day, and Memorial Day.
There is a report from the Legislative Investigation Department of the National Assembly on the designation of days of the week, and the content says "It is possible to strengthen the guarantee of the citizens' right to rest and prevent a decrease in the number of public holidays."
In addition, through various statistical data, it has been proved that it is very helpful in activating consumption. The problem is that it can undermine the purpose or meaning of the anniversary.
For this reason, the government tried to introduce this day-of-week system on some public holidays in 2011, but withdrew it.
So overseas, when the date itself is important for history, religion, or culture, holidays are designated as dates. If the symbolism of the date is low, it is designated as the day of the week.
<Anchor>
Reporter Kim, when we finally discuss public holidays and alternative holidays, I think we should look at them at least once, but the people and workers who can benefit from these things are public servants or workers who work for larger companies. Aren't workers in small and medium-sized enterprises relatively poorly seeing these benefits?
<Reporter>
That's right. Large corporations and government offices see all of these benefits. However, small and medium-sized employees are often difficult. Even if there is a designated day of the week or an alternative holiday, you will not be able to receive the guarantee as a paid holiday.
Depending on the size of the workplace, public holidays are required to be guaranteed as paid holidays sequentially, but this does not apply to workplaces with less than 5 workers.
There are also concerns for daily workers that an increase in the number of holidays may lead to a decrease in income.
The Moon Jae-in administration announced that it would comprehensively improve the public holiday system as one of the top 100 national tasks in 2017, and I hope that we will listen closely to public opinion and come up with improvements that will satisfy everyone before taking office.