The National Assembly’s move to pass a bill to expand the substitute holiday system is facing complaints from workers at businesses that employ five or fewer employees, because they will be excluded from it.
The National Assembly’s move to pass a bill to expand the substitute holiday system is facing complaints from workers at businesses that employ five or fewer employees, because they will be excluded from it.
Those workers and the country’s two largest umbrella unions are criticizing the bill, accusing it of exacerbating polarization between employees at small workplaces and those at larger ones
On Wednesday, the Assembly Interior and Safety Committee passed the bill aimed at providing extra days off if public holidays fall on a weekend.
If the bill is ratified during a plenary session, four more holidays will be guaranteed this year. Liberation Day on Aug. 15, National Foundation Day on Oct. 3, Hangeul Day on Oct. 9 and Christmas on Dec. 25 fall on either a Saturday or Sunday this year.
The country’s current substitute holiday system guarantees an extra day off only when the two biggest holidays of Seollal and Chuseok — Lunar New Year and Korean Thanksgiving — fall on Sundays, or if Children’s Day falls on a weekend.
While most workers welcomed the Assembly’s move to expand the substitute holiday system, those at workplaces with five or fewer employees are complaining, because they will not be able to enjoy the benefit.
“I feel bad because I think I am being discriminated against,” said a man in his 30s who works at a small restaurant in Seoul.
A woman in her 40s who works for a small company said, “We have not been guaranteed annual paid holidays. And we will be excluded from substitute holidays. This is very regrettable.”
The government and ruling Democratic Party of Korea said the exclusion was meant to avoid conflict with the Labor Standards Act, which stipulates that paid leave does not apply to businesses with five or fewer employees.
The ruling party noted that the exclusion was also aimed at easing the burden on small business owners who have already had a hard time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the Korea Federation of SMEs raised concerns that granting more holidays could result in a drop in productivity and an increase in expenses.
However, the country’s two largest umbrella unions criticized the Assembly’s move.
The Federation of Korea Trade Unions issued a statement, Tuesday, saying, “Guaranteeing holidays is within the people’s right to pursue happiness. This must be applied fairly to everyone. In this regard, excluding businesses with five or fewer employees from the expansion of the substitute holiday system cannot be accepted.”
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) called on the Assembly to revise the Labor Standards Act first as the law causes discrimination and exclusion.
“Holidays should not cause polarization between workers,” a KCTU official said during a press conference in front of the Assembly, Monday.
According to Statistics Korea, there were 1.2 million workplaces employing five or fewer workers as of 2019, accounting for 65 percent of total businesses in the country. The number of workers employed by those small businesses stood at 5.02 million, accounting for 15 percent of the country’s total workforce.