Seoul: South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday said that a revision to the 52-hour legal work week has not been officially decided by the government yet.
Labour Minister Lee Jeong-sik told reporters a day earlier that the government will consider revising the 52-hour work week system in a way that will allow employers and workers to flexibly spread the hours over a period of a month, reports Yonhap News Agency.
“The Deputy Prime Minister apparently collected the suggestions of people from private research associations and such and told the Labour Ministry to look into the flexibility of the labour market,” the President told reporters.
“It wasn’t announced as the official position of the government yet.”
The 52-hour work week was introduced in 2018 during the previous administration of Moon Jae-in, but has been criticized by some for failing to meet the needs of both businesses and workers.
In announcing its economic policy direction last week, the Yoon government said it would push for structural reforms in five major sectors, including the labour market and education sector, and outlined plans to introduce flexibility to the 52-hour work week.
–IANS