The majority, or 77.8% of South Koreans said the implementation of the 52 work-hour week in the country was a good thing, while 15.7% disagreed, according to research from the Ministry of Employment and Labour.

The 52-Hour Work Week system was introduced to the National Assembly with bipartisan support after long-running social discussions. The system is aimed at improving working hours in Korea, which rank highest among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, while helping restore the rights of people to enjoy good health and ultimately strike an appropriate work-life balance.

The system has been rolled out in stages across companies of different sizes from July 2018, and expanded to all companies with more than five employees from July 2021.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor conducted a survey to take a look at the public’s overall perceptions of the system five months after its implementation and aim to refer to the survey for future policies.

The survey found that more than half of the Korean public (55.8%) think that “Korean workers tend to work a lot,” while 6.6% believe that they “tend to work less.”

Meanwhile 70.3% of workers stated they would rather “enjoy leisure time after leaving work on time at 6:00 PM” than the 23.5% of respondents who preferred “earning more through overtime.”

The reasons cited for working a lot were “Because of the volume of work” (46.4%), “to earn an appropriate income” (27.8%), “because of inefficient work processes” (20.1%), while 3.6% responded “for self-fulfillment and satisfaction.”

More than half(65.6%), viewed “work” and “personal and family life” as “both important”, while a larger percentage (29.4%) considered “personal and family life” more important than “work” (4.7%).