Overtime became income, overnight work persists

Jan 20, 2026, 08:16 am

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As the government pushes ahead with a four-and-a-half-day workweek, debate over reducing working hours has resurfaced. Yet long working hours remain deeply entrenched, shaped by Korea’s employment structure, wage system, and industrial characteristics—factors that make simple institutional fixes ineffective. This series examines why working hours are slow to fall, why existing systems fail to function on the ground, and why reduced hours rarely translate into rest. (Editor’s note)

Although statutory working hours have declined, Korea still records longer hours than most advanced economies. More than two decades have passed since the 40-hour workweek was introduced, and a 52-hour cap is now in place, but many workers say little has changed in practice.

Last year, Korea’s actual annual working hours stood at 1,859—more than 100 hours above the OECD average of 1,742. While this marks an improvement from the past image of Korea as a long-hours outlier, analysts say the pace of reduction has been modest given how long working-time reform has been on the agenda.

One major reason is the structure of employment itself. The share of part-time and short-hour jobs is relatively low, making it difficult to bring down the overall average quickly. Systems that allow workers to flexibly reduce and later increase hours over their life cycle—due to childcare or caregiving—have yet to take root.

Cho Sung-jae, a senior research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, said, “One reason Korea’s working hours remain long is the low proportion of part-time workers. Reducing working hours is not only about cutting the total, but also about how time is distributed.”

The wage system has also reinforced long hours. Premium pay for overtime and holiday work has effectively become a means of income preservation, locking in a structure where hours are directly tied to earnings. Employers benefit from maximizing existing staff rather than hiring more workers, while employees come to rely on overtime pay as a key income source—turning long hours into a shared workplace norm.

“Long hours have become a cost-saving tool for employers and a way for workers to secure overtime income,” said Chae Jun-ho, a professor of business administration at Chonbuk National University. “In that structure, it’s hard for genuine discussions about reducing hours to take hold.”

Industrial structure matters as well. In an economy with a heavy manufacturing base, working hours are often designed around equipment utilization and production schedules. In sectors where shift work and night work are common, cutting hours can immediately require new hires or capital investment—making institutional change alone insufficient.

Limits in how systems are used further blunt the impact of reform. Although laws provide for flexible schedules, discretionary work, and variable-hour systems, strict design requirements and labor-management agreements have kept real-world adoption low. A perception that such systems favor employers has also hindered trust and uptake.

Experts argue that working-time reform must be treated as a long-term task that addresses employment structure, wage systems, and industrial conditions together. Without resolving these structural issues, new policies may yield only limited on-the-ground change.

Lee Jun-hee, a professor at Kwangwoon University’s law school, said, “Even though systems exist, low utilization reflects a lack of trust in how they are designed. What matters is not adding more systems, but building structures that actually work in practice.”

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