If Five Day Working Week Is Introduced, ``Half of Year Will Be Holidays``

If the current holiday system continues even when the five-day working week is introduced, annual holidays are, theoretically, estimated to be 165-175 days. This is almost half of the year.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce (KCC) reported that the estimation was based on the monthly and menstrual leave, which do not exist in the developed countries, along with 10-day of `stipulated leave`.

If the five-day working week is introduced, the statutory holidays will be 104 days (two days every week for 52 weeks), the nation`s statutory holidays will be 17 days, the monthly leave will be 12 days, annual holidays will be 10-20 days, and the menstrual leave will be 12 days. Male workers can have 143-153 holidays, while female workers have 155-165 holidays.

The period of stipulated leave is usually decided by the management-union agreement, or by the customary practice. According to the Ministry of Labor, there were 10 days of stipulated leave, including 4 days of congratulations-condolences leave, 1 day leave for the anniversary of the foundation of company and the labor union respectively, and 4 days of summer vacation. The stipulated leave exists only in South Korea. For example, congratulations-condolences leave is included in one`s annual holidays, and the anniversary day of the foundation of company and the labor union are not included in the holidays in the developed countries. Moreover, annual holidays are used for the summer vacation in the developed countries.

The KCC reported that if the five-day working week is introduced, without changing the current stipulated holiday system, South Korea would rank first in the world in terms of the total number of the annual holidays. The KCC pointed out that if the five-day working week is to be introduced, the vacation system should be changed. For example, the stipulated leave should be included in the annual holidays. A KCC official said, ``South Korea`s GDP per person is only one third or one fourth of the developed countries. If South Korea has more holidays than other countries, the industrial competitiveness will be lowered.``

Koo Ja-Ryong bonhong@donga.com