SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sihoon Yang, Young Min Kim, Jung Mo Hong and Douglas Hwang, Yoon & Yang LLC
and increased performance arising from higher work efficacy. Disadvantages There are, however, downsides to mobile work. Employees often use mobile devices for both personal and work purposes, which increases vulnerability in relation to information security in comparison with working from an office that is physically protected by various security facilities and measures. Further - more, given that employees performing mobile work generally work alone, they may be more susceptible to feeling socially isolated or experiencing attention deficit, among other things. In addition, if an employee is injured while working at a location other than the office, there may be difficulties in determining wheth - er such injury was caused by an industrial accident covered under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act. Steps Employers Can Take Companies that intend to implement mobile work are advised to address the foregoing disadvantages by taking precautionary measures such as: • establishing the necessary information security system; • devising means to strengthen the bond among employees; and • creating manuals to prevent occupational injuries or accidents. 5.2 Sabbaticals “Sabbatical” in Korean generally refers to sending a long-tenure employee on paid leave for a certain period as a reward for, and in recognition of, the employee’s continued services. Sabbatical leave is not governed under South Korean law. However, given that Korean labour laws stipulate only the statu - tory minimum protections for employees, companies have full discretion to provide sabbatical leave to their employees in addition to their statutory required leave (eg, annual paid leave). As previously mentioned, sabbatical leave is gener - ally granted to long-tenure employees. However, sab - batical leave is not a common type of leave in South
Korea, and most companies in South Korea do not provide it to their employees. However, a company may wish to provide sabbatical leave in order to attract talented employees, promote long-term employment or accommodate and com - pensate long-tenure employees. In such cases, the company should consider stipulating provisions within its rules of employment to govern sabbatical leave (eg, eligibility for sabbatical leave, sabbatical leave duration and procedures to apply for sabbatical leave) Companies have recently begun actively implement - ing a new method of performing work, called “smart work”, in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the emergence of new technologies and the trend towards valuing work efficacy. Smart work is a concept that encompasses less traditional working environments, such as working from home, hot-desking and working from base offices (ie, work spaces maintained outside the headquarters of a company in locations that are more accessible to employees). By way of example, companies have begun allow - ing employees to work from home on a regular basis to induce enhancements in productivity and per - formance while reducing the costs of maintaining office spaces. Some companies have also adopted hot-desking, which enables employees to select their preferred work spaces (eg, window-side, open desk or partitioned desk) to increase work efficacy. Other companies have opened up new office spaces in remote locations that are more accessible to, or preferred by, their employees in order to reduce their commuting burden. before implementing said leave. 5.3 Other New Manifestations “Smart Work” Overall, companies are experimenting with various types of smart work to explore new working methods and environments that are mutually beneficial to the company and its employees. This trend is anticipated to continue in light of the developments in technol - ogy, the acknowledgement of benefits associated with non-traditional working arrangements and changes in the values sought by employees.
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