The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) inspected 49 business sites suspected of long working hours and found legal violations at every site. More than half exceeded the limit on overtime, and more than 6 in 10 failed to pay overtime, night, or holiday premiums. Three of four airlines did not recognize preflight briefing time as working hours and did not pay night work premiums.
On the 23rd, the ministry announced the results of the "long-hours planned inspection" carried out from Oct. 16 last year. The targets were 45 manufacturers and four airlines that were judged highly likely to violate the law because they operated shift systems or repeatedly used special overtime.
The inspection by the ministry identified a total of 261 legal violations across all 49 sites. At 45 business sites that repeatedly operated shift systems or used special overtime, 243 violations were detected in labor standards and industrial safety.
Of the 45 manufacturers, 24 (53.3%) exceeded the overtime limit. A total of 29 (64.4%) failed to pay money such as overtime, night, and holiday premiums, with back pay reaching 2.23 billion won. A total of 29 (64.4%) did not implement safety and health education and management systems, and 24 (53.3%) did not take health and medical management measures.
At the four airlines, 18 legal violations were also detected. Three airlines excluded briefing time from working hours and recognized only pure flight time as working hours, failing to pay about 700 million won. There was also a case where flight allowances of 550 million won were not paid by applying different standards to fixed-term crew members. Two airlines were found to have exceeded the overtime limit for workers within one year after childbirth.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) ordered full payment of unpaid wages and unpaid allowances. It plans to pursue legal action if corrective orders are not followed. It also decided to expand this year's inspections on long working hours to 200 sites. For business sites promoting shift system reform and shorter working hours, the ministry plans to provide grants and consulting.
Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said, "Through the planned inspection, we identified problems in the operation of shift work, late-night labor, and special overtime," and noted, "We will work on structural improvements, including preparing rules for night work."