Recently, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik mentioned the reform of the '52-hour workweek'.

The key is not to cut off working hours on a weekly basis, but to manage them on a monthly basis so that they can work flexibly.



Now, if a worker works more than 52 hours a week, the employer is punished. On a busy week, he works without restriction of 52 hours, and he works less during less busy weeks. I want to see you.

In addition, Minister Lee said, "Korea is the only major advanced country to manage overtime on a weekly basis. Major overseas countries are based on respecting the option of labor-management agreements."



There were not many waves.

Reports continued that he could work up to 92 hours a week, and in the end, President Yoon Seok-yeol stepped back, saying, "It's a situation I've been told to review, and it's not an official government position yet."



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It was analyzed that negative media reports had an impact.

As a result, confusion has arisen. Nevertheless, the reorganization of the 52-hour system is also a key promise of President Yoon Seok-yeol.

An official from the presidential office also said that President Yoon sympathized with the big direction.

As long as the direction does not change significantly, it is highly likely that the content will be refined and officially announced.



This is why it is necessary to fact-check Minister Lee Jung-sik's claims.

In the case of major developed countries, how they manage overtime, the SBS Fact Check team found and checked the original labor regulations of major countries.



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■ How are the major developed countries?


First, among the 10 countries with a nominal GDP higher than ours according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as of April 2022, we selected 7 countries that we frequently cite as best practices for analysis.

The US followed by Japan, Germany, UK, France, Canada and Italy.



First, let's look at the table below.

Facts are the main national labor regulations that the team has checked.



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In fact, laws stipulating working hours usually only present a 'big principle', but there are a number of exceptions.

It is emphasized that the above table is not necessarily applied as a formula in each industrial site.



First, in the United States, Article 207 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 has related regulations.

The statutory working hours are 40 hours a week like ours, but there is no part about overtime.

However, it is written that overtime work must be paid at 1.5 times the normal wage.

It is said that overtime work and paid leave are determined through a contract between the employer and the worker.

It can be seen that the aspect of reliance on 'autonomous consultation' is greater than 'law'.


<Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938> Article 207 


An employee may not work more than 40 hours a week without compensation for overtime employment at 1.5 times or more of the employee's ordinary wage.


no employer shall employ any of his employees …

for a workweek longer than forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.


Japan also stipulates statutory working hours in the Labor Standards Act, just like we do, but the legal working hours are not different from ours at 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week.

The upper limit for overtime work is '45 hours per month, 360 hours per year'.

It is applied on a monthly or yearly basis, not on a weekly basis.


<Japanese Labor Standards Act (労働基準法)> Article 36 The


maximum hours are 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year.


限度間 is, one year, one year, four days, five times, one year, one year, one year, one year, one year, one year, one year, one year, one year, one year, one year, one time, one time.


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Next is Germany, the UK and France.

These Western European countries are known for having very strict regulations regarding overtime.

I looked for the original text.


<German Working Hours Law (Arbeitszeitgesetz)> Article 3 A


worker's daily working hours shall not exceed 8 hours.

However, the working hours may be extended up to 10 hours as long as the average daily working hours within 6 months or 24 weeks does not exceed 8 hours.


Die werktägliche Arbeitszeit der Arbeitnehmer da

rf acht Stunden nicht überschreiten.

Sie kann auf bis zu zehn Stunden nur verlängert werden, wenn innerhalb von sechs Kalendermonaten oder innerhalb von 24 Wochen im Durchschnitt acht Stunden werktäglich nicht überschritten werden.



<UK Working Time Regulations 1998> Article 4 and government guidelines


The working hours of workers, including overtime, shall not exceed an average of 48 hours every 7 days.

Overtime is allowed as long as the average working hours for 17 weeks is less than 48 hours per week.


including overtime, in any reference period which is applicable in his case shall not exceed an average of 48 hours for each seven days.

more than 48 hours one week, as long as the average over 17 weeks is less than 48 hours a week.



<Code du travail> Article L3121-22 The number of


hours worked per week calculated over a period of 12 consecutive weeks is …

may not exceed 44 hours.


La durée hebdomadaire de travail calculée sur une période quelconque de douze semaines consécutives ne peut dépasser quarante-quatre heures…


For reference, the statutory working hours in France is 35 hours per week, which is shorter than the general 40 hours. 



In Germany, a maximum of 24 weeks is the standard, and if you break it in 24 week increments, you will get an average of 8 hours of work per day.

However, no matter how busy you are, you must not work more than 2 hours a day.

The UK has a '48 hours a week' system, just like our '52 hours a week' system, but the calculation method is a little different.

Based on 17 weeks.

Break it down in 17-week increments, and work hours per week are less than 48 hours on average. 



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In Canada, Article 169 of the Federal Labor Code stipulates that the standard working hours are 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, up to 48 hours per week.

However, it is backed by abundant vacation regulations.

If you work for more than 1 year, you are legally guaranteed 2 weeks of vacation per year, if you work for 6 years or more, you are legally guaranteed 3 weeks of vacation.



In Italy, the statutory working time is 40 hours per week, but also up to 48 hours of overtime is allowed.

Any longer than 48 hours must be approved by the Department of Labor.


■ Conditions of flexible work


Taken together, it can be seen that major industrialized countries generally operate overtime on a longer than 'weekly' basis.

In particular, the above countries generally value agreements with labor unions, allowing workers to operate their working hours flexibly with the consent of workers.



However, we are not very different in this respect. 


Article 51-2 of the Labor Standards Act (Flexible working hours exceeding 3 months)


① Employers must …

Averaging the unit period within 6 months, the working hours per week are 40 hours …

You may be forced to work overtime.

However, the working hours in a specific week is 52 hours.

cannot exceed



Article 52 of the Labor Standards Act (Optional working hour system) Employers 


must …

In accordance with a written agreement with the employee representative for an employee who has agreed to leave the start and end times of work to the employee’s decision…

By averaging the settlement period within one month…

You may be forced to work overtime. 


To put it simply, if you average it, you are stipulated to do more work in a given week.



Of course, there are clues to this.

It is 'a written agreement with the worker's representative'.

If labor and management agree, it means that flexible operation is possible within up to six months now.



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By the way, as a reporter, I cut my working hours by month, not by week.

This is on a 'monthly' basis, not on a 'weekly' basis.

Some states allow you to work more than 52 hours a week, but the law requires that you work an average of 52 hours per week on a monthly basis.

To be precise, they are employees of the selective working system (legal name is the selective working hour system, based on Article 52 of the Labor Standards Act).

Since reporters do not know when or what will happen, the purpose is to create an environment where they can 'drive' to work in case of an emergency.

Of course, this was possible because, as the law states, there was a 'written agreement' between the employer and the workers' representatives.



In other words, Korea already has institutional mechanisms to flexibly manage overtime.



But it says this doesn't work.

What's the problem?



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Let's look at the table below.

Based on OECD countries, this is the percentage of working hours per year and workers subject to collective agreements. 



For reference, collective agreement means 'agreement' between labor and management, just like a provision of law.

According to the Labor Standards Act above, it is stated that overtime can be managed flexibly according to a 'written agreement between the employer and the worker's representative', which is usually specified in a collective agreement.

According to our Labor Standards Act, it can be understood as a worker subject to a 'written agreement'.



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Minister Lee Jung-sik said that the basic principle is that major countries respect the right to choose under a labor-management agreement.

It's true.

However, in the case of Korea, the number of workers covered by 'collective agreements' accounts for 15% of the total, which is far below the OECD countries.



In other words, managing overtime in weekly, monthly, or 6-month increments may not be important in itself.

The labor laws of the advanced countries reviewed above merely provide a standard for the total working hours no matter what unit is managed, and based on this, the intention is strong for labor and management to discuss and decide on their own.

The marginal line of overtime, no more, no less.



Our Labor Standards Act reflects that purpose, but there are not many workers who can negotiate and reach an agreement.

Rather than 'management standards', it may be the first thing to think about an environment in which a 'written agreement' with worker representatives can be reached, as prescribed by the law.



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Of course, even this cannot be perfect.

At one time, Japan made the '36 Agreement' with the purpose of flexibly setting overtime hours between labor and management, but it again justified long working hours.

In 2015, a new employee at an advertising agency in Japan took his own life after working 105 hours a month overtime.

This was the reason why the '45 hours of overtime work per month' provision of the Japanese Labor Law was revived. 



The labor issue cannot be completed by the system alone, and it must mean that there are many things that need to be done beyond the system.



What is clear is that, as can be seen from the table above, even after the implementation of the 52-hour workweek, Korea is still one of the countries with the highest number of workers. 


The SBS fact-check team verified the remarks of Minister of Employment and Labor Jeong-sik Lee, who said, "Korea is the only major advanced country to manage overtime on a weekly basis. Major overseas countries are based on respecting the right to choose based on labor-management agreements." .

As a result of finding and checking the original text of labor-related regulations in developed countries, it can be seen as 'generally true', although some may not. 



However, it is necessary to take into account that our Labor Standards Act also largely reflects the choices made by the labor-management agreement.

As a result of analyzing OECD statistical data, the number of workers covered by collective agreements in Korea was 15%, which was lower than that of advanced countries.

The premise of Minister Lee Jung-sik's 'option based on labor-management agreement' would be effective only when there are many parties to a written agreement, but it can be considered difficult with the current figures.



In fact, rather than the judgment itself, the team diagnoses that our work environment should give priority to whether the 'option' for overtime work can be properly exercised and the context of it.

<Reference>


Labor Standards Act https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsInfoP.do?efYd=20211119&lsiSeq=232199#0000


World Legal Information Center https://world.moleg.go.kr/web/wli /lgslInfoListPage.do


US Fair Labor Standards Law https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/207


Japanese Labor Standards Law https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/document?lawid=322AC0000000049


Germany Working Hours Law https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/arbzg/BJNR117100994.html


UK Working Hours Regulations https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/regulation/4/made


France Labor Law https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/texte_lc/LEGITEXT000006072050


Canadian Federal Labor Code https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-23.html


Italian Labor Law https://www.ilo.org/ifpdial/information-resources/national-labour-law-profiles/WCMS_158903/lang--en/index.htm


OECD Working Hours https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/data/hours-worked/average-annual-hours-actually-worked_data-00303-en


Percentage of workers covered by OECD collective cooperation https://stats.oecd. org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=CBC Kim Joo-seop


et al. (2019), <Survey on training trends in major countries following the introduction of the 52-hour workweek> Service report by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. 


(Interns: Lee Min-kyung, Jung Kyung-eun)