After the government announced the new work hour system, which would allow workers to work up to 69 hours a week, on March 6, employees voiced concerns, such as, “I’m afraid things will return to the past when we suffered from too much work.” Despite the government’s explanation that it would create a culture where workers can work when they work and freely rest when they rest, the majority of workers responded with views like “They have no idea what reality is like.”

Employees seemed to agree that the new policy “went against the times.” On March 7, Yun (35), an employee who has been working at an SME with less than 200 employees for eight years said, “The company culture changed a lot in the past few years after the implementation of the 52-hour work week.” He continued and said, “I think people shared the perception that working too much was a social problem. I’m afraid that such awareness will regress now that the government has permitted the 69-hour work week.” A (42), who works at an IT company said, “People who remember what it was like before the 52-hour work week cannot agree with the 69-hour work week,” and added, “I don’t want to return to back then, when we had to study the mood to get off work and regularly work overtime.”

People also criticized the work hour savings account and the use of long-term leaves, which the government proposed. The work hour savings account is a policy that allows workers to save up their overtime work hours and receive leave days in return.

Gim (32), another employee said, “We can’t even fully take advantage of existing leave days. Will it be possible to work when we work and rest when we rest?” According to data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in a survey of workers’ leave in 2021, employees at work sites with five or more employees used 76.1% of their leave days and only in 40.9% of the companies did employees use all their leave days.

People also pointed out problems with having the right to extended work and rest determined by a labor-management agreement. Yi Jong-bin (38) said, “When we look at it while considering the government’s tendency to suppress labor unions, ultimately, it’s just a policy for the companies.” He further said, “They told the workers in worksites without a union to negotiate with management through a workers’ representative, but I wonder if negotiations will be properly conducted?”

On social media Tuesday, a picture under the heading, “A 69-hour Work Schedule” attracted over 10,000 views and emerged as a central topic. It was a weekly schedule of a virtual employee assuming she had to work up to 69 hours a week after the new government policy was implemented. According to the schedule, the worker starts work at 9 a.m. and gets off at 1 a.m. Monday to Friday.

If we add a one-hour commute to and from work, the worker can only sleep on average five hours on weekdays, from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. The time sleeping on the weekend was marked “pass out,” suggesting that she would practically be unconscious over the weekend to make up for the lack of sleep during the week. The schedule also included time to visit the “hospital” on Saturday, suggesting health issues due to the excessive work. Aside from the time set for housework she couldn’t get to during the week, the worker only had about ten hours of free time for “watching Netflix,” etc. However, the weekly schedule did not reflect the condition that workers are to be given eleven hours of rest between workdays. If this is reflected, then she will work over 64 hours a week.

A post titled, “Experiencing the 69-hour work week” also spread on social media. It introduced the work schedule of a British worker during the Industrial Revolution, when workers worked 10-16 hours a day. The post mocked the latest policy by comparing a worker who has to work 11 hours and thirty minutes every day for six days a week to fill a 69-hour work week to a worker during the Industrial Revolution.