근로시간 제도의 유연화를 위한 과제

Abstract

The ”work hours” are the key terms and conditions of employment in the labor contract (Labor Standards Act Article 17-1(2)), and they are closely related to the “wages” paid to the worker as remuneration for work. The main task of the Labor Act is to regulate the work hours to protect the health rights of workers and guarantee the work-life balance of the workers. The history of Labor Act is also called the history of shortening the work hours. This is because the work hours are the key regulatory matters in the Labor Act. It is also a crucial task to regulate the work hours to guarantee the health rights and living rights of the workers. The Korean work hour system is mainly based on the Labor Standards Act. Since the enactment of the Labor Standards Act in 1953, the discussions and changes regarding the work hour system have been focusing on reduction of the legal work hours and standard work hours to secure the recess rights or health rights of the workers. For example, the initial work hours of Korea reduced from eight hours a day and 48 hours a week (Labor Standards Act enacted on May 10, 1953) to eight hours a day and 44 hours a week in 1989 (Labor Standards Act amended on March 29, 1989). Since 2003, the work hours have been reduced to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week (Labor Standards Act amended on September 15, 2003) until now. Provided, the work hour system under the current Labor Standards Act mainly regulates the actual work hours and fails to consider the living time of the workers. The work-life balance has been recently spotlighted, and there is a growing demand for flexible work hours. In fact, flexible work hour is a key issue in many workers for work-life balance, and flexible work hour is considered as a main mean to improve the work-life balance. The guarantee of time needed for family life and social life may vary depending on the individual circumstances of each work. In order to improve the work hour system, it is necessary to secure the right to decide the allocation and placement of the work hours in consideration of the individual worker demands based on the labor-management agreements. In reformation of the work hours, the total amount of work hour should be continuously reduced and regulated while guaranteeing flexibility in operation of the work hour within the total amount. The current laws and systems also need to be reviewed again based on these perspectives. Furthermore, individual and fragmentary improvement of the work hour system cause inefficiency and lack of practicality in system operation. Thus, it is necessary to redesign the realistic and future-oriented work hour regulation framework.