Civil Servants To Enjoy Five-Day Workweek From July 2005

Starting in July 2005, public servants will enjoy full implementation of a five-day workweek.

On December 10, the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs announced the “Three Phase Five-Day Workweek Guideline” for public servants. According to the guideline, all civil servants will have one Saturday off every month from January to June 2004, two off per month from July 2004 to June 2005, and all Saturdays off from July 2005. Since April, civil servants have had one Saturday off every month.

In the first phase, civil servants will continue the current system of having one Saturday off until June 2004, but they will no longer be obligated to work an extra hour every Monday.

With the implementation of the guideline, the number of those not working on Saturdays will increase from 27 percent (238,000 people) to 35 percent (309,000 people) of the total 885,000 civil servants.

However, police officers and firefighters working on shifts, onsite workers at railways or post offices, and teachers are obliged to follow their organization regulations regardless of the guideline. Saturday public complaints centers will also continue to operate to provide public services.

In order to maintain the optimal number of holidays with full implementation of a five-day workweek from July 2005, the government is planning to reduce legal holidays from 16 per year to 13 or 14 days. Civil servants’ annual leave will also be slashed from 23 days to 21 days.

Jong-Hoon Lee taylor55@donga.com