Employment 2025

SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sihoon Yang, Young Min Kim, Jung Mo Hong and Douglas Hwang, Yoon & Yang LLC

workplaces that have five or more employees. Article 50 (1) and (2) of the Labor Standards Act provide that working hours may not exceed eight hours per day and 40 hours per week. However, Article 53 (1) allows employers to extend the foregoing working hours, as overtime, by up to 12 hours per week upon obtaining the relevant employee’s consent. For the purposes of determining the working hours, one week refers to seven days, including holidays. Thus, the maximum number of weekly working hours with the permitted extensions is 52 hours (40 hours per week plus up to 12 hours of overtime). Meanwhile, under limited circumstances where cer - tain criteria are satisfied, the Labor Standards Act recognises the following types of “flexible working systems”. Flexible Working Hours System (Article 51 of the Labor Standards Act) In a flexible working hours system, working hours are increased during the weeks where work is concentrat - ed but reduced during other weeks so that, on aver - age, the weekly working hours are within the statutory working hours (ie, 40 hours). A flexible working hours system can be utilised for a maximum of six months. Selective Working Hours System (Article 52 of the Labor Standards Act) In a selective working hours system, an employee may freely choose their working hours over a certain period (not exceeding one month or, in the case of work pertaining to research and development of new products or new technologies, not exceeding three months), as long as the total working hours do not exceed the statutory working hours for such period. In this system, the employee may decide when they will begin and end work, as well as the number of hours of work in a day. Presumed Working Hours System (Article 58 (1) of the Labor Standards Act) Presumed working hours systems are used in cir - cumstances where it is difficult to calculate the hours of work performed by an employee because the employee provides labour outside the workplace. In

a presumed working hours system, employees are presumed to have worked: • their contractual hours; • the hours that are typically needed to perform the relevant work; or • the hours that have been agreed in writing with the employees’ representative for particular work. Discretionary Working Hours System (Article 58 (3) of the Labor Standards Act) Discretionary working hours systems apply to lim - ited types of work prescribed under the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act. These types of work have been legally recognised, based on the nature of the work, to require employees’ discretion in determining how the work should be performed. In a discretionary working hours system, the work - ing hours that have been agreed in writing between the employer and the employees’ representative are recognised as the hours worked by the employees. Part-Time Contracts Employees under part-time employment contracts are also considered as “employees” within the meaning of the Labor Standards Act. Hence, the laws do not require part-time employment contracts to have spe - cific terms that are different from ordinary employment contracts. Furthermore, the format used for part-time employment contracts is identical to that of ordinary employment contracts. However, considering the nature of part-time work, a part-time employment contract must clearly indicate the working hours. Overtime As described at the beginning of this section, statutory working hours under Article 50 (1) and (2) of the Labor Standards Act may not exceed eight hours per day and 40 hours per week (excluding break times). How - ever, such statutory working hours may be extended as overtime by up to 12 hours per week in accordance with Article 53 (1) of the Labor Standards Act, as long as the employees consent to such overtime. Article 56 of the Labor Standards Act governs over - time pay. More specifically, at least 50% of the ordi - nary wage must be paid in addition to the ordinary wage for:

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