The South Korean government has announced measures to help small and medium sized companies adapt to new rules on working hours that'll take effect next year.<br />With the work week restricted to 52 hours, they'll get a longer grace period on compliance so long as they're making a good-faith effort and there'll be more leeway for companies in their busy seasons.<br />Hong Yoo has this report.<br />Starting from next year, the mandatory 52-hour workweek regulation will be expanded to small and medium-sized companies with 50 to 299 employees.<br />To help these firms cope with the change, the government announced some complementary measures on Monday morning.<br />The measures include an extension of the guidance period from 6 months to a longer period, during which companies will avoid punishment when they have employees who work more than 52 hours.<br />The guidance period will vary depending on the size of the company and the amount of effort a company has put into following the 52-hour workweek regulations.<br />The measures will also ease the requirements for granting special extended work hours for certain situations that require intensive labor.<br />Special extended hours are currently permitted for limited occasions such as natural disasters but they will be expanded to allow for times when there is a temporary surge in workload.<br />Lastly, the government says that they will support SMEs that are short of employees.<br />The government is planning to expand the employment of overseas Koreans for sectors suffering from labor shortages.<br />The Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-kap said these improved measures will be imposed sometime in January if the revised Labor Standards Act doesn't get through the National Assembly by then.<br />"However, even with the complementary measures, there are limitations to how much these measures will improve working conditions. It is essential to improve the system through a revision of the law to solve fundamental problems."<br />Labor representatives argue that the expansion of special overtime work could be used arbitrarily, and that it is tantamount to giving up on the attempts to shorten Korea's working hours.<br />Hong Yoo, Arirang News.<br />
