제 25 호 Four-Day Working Week: Is it Possible to be Introduced in Korea?
Kicker: SOCIETY
Four-Day Working Week: Is it Possible to be Introduced in Korea?
By Ye-Dam Hwang, Reporter
Have you heard about a “four-day working week”? In general, in addition to weekends, it is operated in the form of an additional day off by designating one of Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. In other words, as the word itself indicates, it means a work system in the form of working four days a week and taking three days off. Though some foreign countries and some companies already executed or introduced four-day working week, still the legal working hours of Korea have been established as working five days a week, since the introduction of the Kim Dae-jung government's five-day (40 hours) working week system in 2000 and the pilot introduction of the five-day working week system in 2004. However, these days, the discussion of “working-four-days- a-week” is taking place actively and even the president candidates of this election chose this issue about working hours as a pledge to fight the election. Thus, we should be aware of considerations about the introduction of a four-day working week as Koreans and further think deeply about deciding legal working hours.
The History of Legal Working Hours of Korea
South Korea currently has a five-day work week system and it feels familiar, but South Korea was originally a country that used to have a six-day work week system. South Korea's legal working hours have been reduced little by little since the introduction of the eight-hour, six-day week (48 hours a week) in 1953 into the Labor Standards Act. The legal working hours were shortened to 44 hours a week in 1989 after democratization, and in 2000, the Kim Dae-jung government began introducing the five-day (40 hours) working week system in earnest. After the IMF financial crisis, the Labor Standards Act was revised in 2003 to implement the five-day week system in stages, and the current legal working hours were established with the introduction of a pilot system in 2004. As times have changed, legal working hours have been gradually decreasing, and labor unions and civic groups have argued that the introduction of a four-day week (36 hours a week) is necessary to solve various complex social problems such as worker health problems, low birth rate, and climate crisis caused by long hours of work. In addition, voices complaining of difficulties such as nuclear familyization and the resulting balance between work and family have grown, and the need for the introduction of a four-day week system has gradually begun, based on the fact that working hours are still long compared to advanced countries abroad.
Pros and Cons of “Four-Day Working Week”
Then, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the four-day week system, which is a hot topic of discussion? If you look at the advantages first, the first advantages are maintaining and increasing productivity. This means that shorter working hours contribute to creativity and productivity, and labor productivity experts also emphasize that productivity can be improved through shorter runs and breaks rather than longer runs. The second advantage is to secure work-life balance, thereby increasing employee job and corporate satisfaction, and focusing more on working hours. Environmental protection can be cited as the next advantage. A study was conducted in Sweden that proved that 1% increase in working hours also increases greenhouse gas emissions by 0.65% to 0.67% and a research team at the University of Massachusetts also revealed that carbon emissions could be reduced by 30% per year when the four-day week system is fully implemented, adding to the possibility of an eco-friendly transition to the four-day week system. In addition, companies can attract potential employees. "Every company that provides a four-day work week system has a competitive advantage," said Shade, an industrial psychologist. In fact, according to a survey on the 4.5-day week system conducted by Catch, a recruitment platform, of 1,630 job seekers in Generation Z, 84% of the respondents said that the introduction of the system "affects the decision to join the company." This means that the four-day week system can secure an advantage in hiring new workers, which can lower the unemployment rate when introducing the four-day week system.
Among the shortcomings of the four-day week system, the first is increased work stress. With the difficulty in measuring productivity, the psychological pressure and burden of solving a given task in a reduced time can increase workers' work stress. Second, the four-day week can deepen the conflict between labor and management over wages. If workers want to cut wages, which are important to them, because of the four-day week system, this can intensify the conflict between labor and management over wages. In fact, according to a survey conducted by Hankook Research in 2021, half of all respondents said they agreed to the four-day week system, but 44% of those who agreed said they would not work four days a week if wages decreased. The third disadvantage is the occurrence of an equity problem between occupations. Depending on the job type or industry group, the four-day workweek may not be appropriate in some areas. In addition, schedules in some industries can be challenges to the four-day workweek, which will be more difficult to implement if there are essential workers who cannot rest with ordinary workers, such as in nursing, security services, or working for transportation companies.
The Present Situation of Countries which Introduced a Four-Day Working Week
Although South Korea is still in discussion about introducing the four-day workweek, its introduction and pilot operations are spreading throughout the world. One country that has shown positive results about the four-day workweek is Iceland. Iceland successfully completed a 35-36-hour four-day trial between 2015 and 2019, with about 86% of all workers currently working four-day weeks. At this time, overall output did not drop mostly at work, with some found to have improved, while workers maintaining or improving productivity while stress was reduced. The U.K. conducted a large-scale trial in 2022, with 61 companies participating, with 92% of them deciding to continue the four-day workweek, and employees reporting higher productivity and satisfaction. Belgium legally introduced the four-day workweek in 2022, giving employees the option to reduce the five-day workweek to four days a week. However, the total number of working hours per week remains the same, and 40 hours are divided into four days. In Japan, Microsoft reported a 40% productivity increase as a result of piloting the four-day week system, but it has not yet spread nationwide. Ireland conducted a four-day week trial involving 33 companies and 900 employees in 2022, with employees showing very high satisfaction and companies also reporting improved work efficiency. In the U.S. state of California, attempts are underway to legally introduce a 32-hour work week, and several companies are piloting the four-day week system. In San Juan County, Washington, there have already been cases where the 32-hour work week has been adopted. In New Zealand, several companies, including Unilever, piloted the four-day week system in 2021, and many companies have successfully maintained the system. Portugal began a six-month trial run of a four-day week in 2023, involving 39 companies. In particular, attention is being paid to how this experiment will affect Portugal, which has a large number of workers working more than 40 hours. Brazil began experimenting with a four-day week trial involving 20 companies in September 2023. It is the first four-day week trial in Latin America, and it is attracting attention. In addition, several countries are considering the introduction of a four-day week or piloting it, and most of them are reporting positive results.
As the society and people’s thought change, the discussion of introducing a four-day working week is proceeding actively globally today. Especially in Korea, it is now a controversial subject regarding the promises made by the presidential candidates. Korean legal working hours have been decreasing historically, but we need to have sufficient discussion of introducing a four-day working week because the advantages (maintaining and increasing productivity, to secure work-life balance, environmental protection) and the disadvantages (increased work stress, deepening the conflict between labor and management over wages, occurrence of an equity problem between occupations) of a four-day working week are clear. Since it is a matter that is connect with real life that we can face as Korean people in the future, I hope you will think about this more deeply.
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