Working 11 more hours a week due to smartphones

Korean employees are working 11 extra hours each week by using devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs when they are off work according to a new research.

Kim Ki-sun, a researcher at the Korea Labor Institute, delivered Wednesday a presentation entitled "Problems Using Smart Devices at Work Brings Against Labor Laws in the Anti-KakaoTalk Laborers' Forum. The survey on abused employees targeted 2,402 workers in manufacturing industries and service businesses across the country.

The results show that more than eight out of 10, 86.1 percent, work with their smartphones and laptops after work hours. Some 27.1 percent said that they work for less than 30 extra minutes while 20.1 percent said that they work more than two hours with their smartphones. Their combined extra work hours of weekdays and weekends are 677 minutes a week, which is over 11 hours.

The most common task (63.2 percent) that they do using their smartphones is sending and checking emails through connection to their companies’ email system. Four out of 10 said that they get stress from smartphone-related overtime work, while 44 percent said that they sleep less because of extra work.

Germany has been discussing passing an "Antistress Law" since 2012. The agenda has not passed yet but part of the law, which clearly separates work hours and break times, is being considered plausible. Volkswagen disables their company email app 30 minutes after work hours and enables it 30 minutes before work hours. However, they allow calling after work hours in case of emergency. In France, more and more labor unions are making agreements with companies on no company email after 6 p.m. and before 9 a.m. the next day.

In Korea, some major companies such as LG Uplus and Samsung SDI made a rule that prohibits sending KakaoTalk messages for business at night and during weekends and holidays, but the rule has not been observed by the majority yet. On Wednesday, Rep. Shin Kyung-min of the Minjoo Party proposed an amendment that bans giving work via phone calls, SMS, and SNS after work. “Smartphones have become common and that affects workers’ mental health, which could lead to burn-out syndrome,'" Kim Ki-sun remarked. “Legislative measures must be taken to tackle this problem. We can also think about ways to make sure that overtime work via smart devices is paid accordingly.”

유성열기자 ryu@donga.com