2nd phase of 52-hour work week legislation to be implemented from Jan 1, 2020 to companies having 50 to 299 employees

l 2nd phase of 52-hour work week legislation to be implemented from Jan 1, 2020 to companies having 50 to 299 employees

As announced earlier this year, the Korean government introduced the 52-hour work week legislation stipulating that the maximum work hours including overtime and holiday work shall be limited to max 52 hours per week in an effort to improve long working hours of the workers and their quality of life.

This 52-hour work week legislation is being implemented in different phases depending on company size with the first phase already started from July 1, 2018 for the companies having 300 or more employees. The second phase will take effect from January 1, 2020 that will be applicable to companies having 50 to 299 employees.

For your reference once again, the implementation schedules for the second and third (final) phases are as below:

• 1st phase - 300 or more employees: July 1, 2018

• 2nd phase - 50 or more but less than 300: January 1, 2020

• 3rd phase (final) - 5 or more but less than 50: July 1, 2021