Part-time Employees in Korea
Pro-rata Protection and Overtime Rules
Who is a Part-time Employee?
A part-time employee is one whose contractual weekly working hours are shorter than those of a full-time employee performing the same type of work at the workplace.
In most workplaces, the standard contractual working hours are 40 hours per week; therefore, the term generally refers to employees whose contractual weekly working hours fall below 40. In practice, part-time arrangements are frequently used for employees utilizing the reduced working-hours scheme for childcare.
How Are Their Woking Conditions Calculated? Pro-Rata Protection
The most important issue concerning part-time employees is how their statutory employment conditions are determined. Under the Act on the Protection of Fixed-term and Part-time Employees, the working conditions of part-time employees must be calculated in proportion to those of full-time employees, based on the ratio of their respective contractual working hours. In other words, the law provides protection on a pro-rata basis.
For example, if a full-time employee whose contractual weekly working hours are 40 hours is entitled to 15 days of annual leave (120 hours), a part-time employee whose contractual weekly working hours are 20 would be entitled to 7.5 days (60 hours).
Overtime Rules
For part-time employees, any hours worked in excess of their contractual working hours must be compensated with overtime pay at a 50% premium. The permissible limit on overtime is the same as that for full-time employees – up to 12 hours per week.
For example, if a part-time employee whose contractual weekly working hours are 20 works 30 hours in a given week, the employer must pay the additional 10 hours at the overtime premium rate. In this case, the employee’s maximum lawful working hours per week would be 32 hours.
Prohibition of Discrimination
An employer must not treat a part-time employee less favorably than a regular employee engaged in the same or similar work on the ground that the employee is employed on a part-time basis. For further details, see our article here.
Employer Takeaways
Note that the maximum permissible working hours for part-time employees are not 52 hours per week. Their maximum lawful working hours are limited to their contractual weekly working hours plus 12 hours of overtime. Any work performed beyond this limit may constitute a violation of the Labor Standards Act and may result in criminal liability for the employer.
For assistance with working hours compliance under Korean labor law, please contact us.
Pro-rata Protection and Overtime Rules
Who is a Part-time Employee?A part-time employee is one whose contractual weekly working hours are shorter than those of a full-time employee performing the same type of work at the workplace.
In most workplaces, the standard contractual working hours are 40 hours per week; therefore, the term generally refers to employees whose contractual weekly working hours fall below 40. In practice, part-time arrangements are frequently used for employees utilizing the reduced working-hours scheme for childcare.
The most important issue concerning part-time employees is how their employment conditions are determined. Under the Act on the Protection of Fixed-term and Part-time Employees, the working conditions of part-time employees must be calculated in proportion to those of full-time employees, based on the ratio of their respective contractual working hours. In other words, the law provides protection on a pro-rata basis.
For example, if a full-time employee whose contractual weekly working hours are 40 hours is entitled to 15 days of annual leave (120 hours), a part-time employee whose contractual weekly working hours are 20 would be entitled to 7.5 days (60 hours).
For part-time employees, any hours worked in excess of their contractual working hours must be compensated with overtime pay at a 50% premium. The permissible limit on overtime is the same as that for full-time employees – up to 12 hours per week.
For example, if a part-time employee whose contractual weekly working hours are 20 works 30 hours in a given week, the employer must pay the additional 10 hours at the overtime premium rate. In this case, the employee’s maximum lawful working hours per week would be 32 hours.
An employer must not treat a part-time employee less favorably than a regular employee engaged in the same or similar work on the ground that the employee is employed on a part-time basis. For further details, see our article here.
Note that the maximum permissible working hours for part-time employees are not 52 hours per week. Their maximum lawful working hours are limited to their contractual weekly working hours plus 12 hours of overtime. Any work performed beyond this limit may constitute a violation of the Labor Standards Act and may result in criminal liability for the employer.
For assistance with working hours compliance under Korean labor law, please contact us.
