| gettyimagesbank |
By Yoon Ja-young
Korean workers have on average less than four days of summer break this year. While employees of bigger companies tend to enjoy longer breaks of five days or more, those hired by small businesses mostly spend only three days or less.
According to a survey by the Korea Enterprises Federation of 720 businesses employing five or more people, workers are spending 3.7 days off on average for summer vacation this year. That figure is similar to the 3.6 days spent last year.
The federation said that there is a notable gap between businesses depending on their size. While 46.1 percent of businesses employing 300 or more workers said that their employees have at least five days of summer break, 49.7 percent said that three days off were the most common at businesses with less than 300 workers.
The survey showed that 48.1 percent of businesses plan to give vacation bonuses to workers, which is one percentage point less than last year.
Koreans are known to work more hours compared to workers in other developed countries. They worked 1,993 hours in 2018, which is the third longest among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), after Mexico and Costa Rica. However, their vacation days are gradually getting longer.
According to a report released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism last year, Korean workers had on average 9.9 days of annual leave in 2018. That figure is 1.4 days more than the previous year. Those in the utility and gas, ICT and science and technology service sectors tend to have longer vacations, while workers in the mining, finance and insurance, and transportation industries have shorter vacations.
Asked why they aren't using their full vacation days, 22.1 percent said that they had no one to substitute for them during their absence, while 22 percent said that they preferred getting money from the company in compensation for having a shorter vacation. One out of eight Korean employees said they were overburdened with too much work to take a break.