Is there a 4-day week in South Korea?
No, not by law. South Korea has no legal right to a 4-day or 4.5-day week. The statutory limit is still 40 hours a week plus up to 12 hours of overtime, a 52-hour maximum. The government does back voluntary shorter weeks. The labour ministry's Work-Life Balance+4.5 Project, which supports firms that cut hours by labour-management agreement without cutting wages, had 224 firms by the end of June 2026, against a target of 220. Gyeonggi Province runs its own pilot from 2025 to 2027, and 106 companies and one public institution had joined by the end of 2025, according to the Seoul Economic Daily.
Legislation is still at the proposal stage. A December 2025 joint declaration by government, labour and employers lists a working-hours reduction support act as a 2026 task, and MPs tabled bills in 2024, including one to cut the statutory week to 36 hours. In late October 2026 the 4.5-day week was still at pilot and support-programme level. A ruling-party bill tabled on 20 October would go the other way for some staff, exempting certain high-earning research staff in special zones from the 52-hour cap.
Not every scheme cuts hours: Cheonan city's pilot for officials keeps the 40-hour week, with 9-hour days Monday to Thursday and a four-hour Friday.
Latest developments
Ruling party tables special-zone bills, one with a 52-hour cap exception
On 20 October the ruling party introduced two special-zone bills. One lets research and development staff in the zones who are in the top 3% of earners negotiate working hours with employers, an exception to the 52-hour cap.
SBS News: 'Are High Earners Not Human?' Ruling Camp Agonizes Over Exceptions to 52-Hour Workweek (opens in new tab)Cheonan city to run a 4.5-day week pilot for city officials from 28 September
Officials are to work 9-hour days Monday to Thursday and 4 hours on Friday, keeping the statutory 40-hour week. Participation is capped at 30% of each department's staffing quota. The city plans to review fourth-quarter results.
Seoul Economic Daily: Cheonan pilots 4.5-day workweek for city officials (opens in new tab)224 firms join labour ministry's Work-Life Balance+4.5 shorter-hours project
By the end of June 2026, 224 firms had joined the programme, against a target of 220. It supports firms that cut hours by labour-management agreement without cutting wages. Firms with under 50 staff were 67.9%.
Korea Policy Briefing: shorter weeks improve work-life balance and productivity (opens in new tab)Gyeonggi reports 106 companies and a public body in its 4.5-day week pilot
Provincial data cited by the Seoul Economic Daily show 106 companies and one public institution at end-2025, estimated productivity per worker up 2.1% and turnover down from 22.8% to 17.4%.
Seoul Economic Daily: Gyeonggi Province's 4.5-day workweek pilot boosts productivity, cuts turnover (opens in new tab)Government, labour and employers announce joint declaration on cutting hours
The tripartite declaration aims to bring actual working hours to the OECD average level (in the 1,700s of hours a year) by 2030 and lists a working-hours reduction support act among 2026 tasks.
Ministry of Employment and Labor: joint declaration on reducing actual working hours (opens in new tab)Gyeonggi Province begins its 4.5-day week model project
The province began a three-year pilot in June 2025 that runs to 2027. 107 companies had joined by October 2025, according to JILPT.
JILPT Country Labor Topics: incentives for firms adopting a 4.5-day week (Korea, Nov 2025) (opens in new tab)
4-day-week trials in South Korea
What each pilot reported. Figures are the organiser's own, from the linked report.
Gyeonggi Province 4.5-day week pilot
Run by Gyeonggi Provincial Government
- Jun 2025
- 106 companies
107 organisations (106 companies, 1 public institution) had joined by 31 Dec 2025 under one of three models chosen by labour-management agreement, with wages kept. Provincial data cited by the Seoul Economic Daily (Mar 2026) show estimated revenue-based productivity per worker up 2.1% and turnover down from 22.8% to 17.4%.
Estimated +2.1% year on year in revenue-based labour productivity per worker, per provincial data as reported by the Seoul Economic Daily (not the province's own report).
Seoul Economic Daily: Gyeonggi Province's 4.5-day workweek pilot boosts productivity, cuts turnover (opens in new tab)Cheonan city 4.5-day week pilot for city officials
Run by Cheonan city government
- Sep 2026
City officials work 9-hour days Monday to Thursday and 4 hours on Friday, keeping the statutory 40-hour week. Participation is capped at 30% of each department's staffing quota. The city will judge the pilot on fourth-quarter results and plans to expand it from March 2027.
Seoul Economic Daily: Cheonan pilots 4.5-day workweek for city officials (opens in new tab)Jobs in South Korea
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Who offers a 4-day week in South Korea
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Suggest a companyHow South Korea compares
South Korea, the labelled dot, against the other countries we cover.
Average weekly hours
20th shortest of 25 countries, 2.1 hours above the median of 37.3.
Netherlands 31.3 to South Africa 42.3
See all 25 countries
| Country | Hours |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | 31.3 |
| Denmark | 33.3 |
| Germany | 34.5 |
| Norway | 34.6 |
| Australia | 35.4 |
| Austria | 35.6 |
| Finland | 35.6 |
| Switzerland | 35.7 |
| Belgium | 36.0 |
| Ireland | 36.0 |
| United Kingdom | 36.3 |
| France | 36.9 |
| Sweden | 37.3 |
| Iceland | 37.4 |
| Japan | 37.5 |
| Spain | 37.5 |
| New Zealand | 37.6 |
| United States | 38.2 |
| Lithuania | 39.0 |
| South Korea | 39.4 |
| Brazil | 39.5 |
| Chile | 39.8 |
| Poland | 39.9 |
| Portugal | 40.0 |
| South Africa | 42.3 |
Usual weekly hours on the main job, all employed people, from the OECD (latest year, 2024 or 2025). It includes part-timers. No comparable figure for: Canada, Philippines, United Arab Emirates.
Statutory paid leave
Joint 20th longest of 26 countries, 5 days below the median of 20.
United Kingdom 28 to United States None
See all 26 countries
| Country | Days |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 28 |
| Austria | 25 |
| Denmark | 25 |
| Finland | 25 |
| France | 25 |
| Sweden | 25 |
| Iceland | 24 |
| Brazil | 22 |
| Portugal | 22 |
| Spain | 22 |
| Norway | 21 |
| Australia | 20 |
| Belgium | 20 |
| Germany | 20 |
| Ireland | 20 |
| Netherlands | 20 |
| New Zealand | 20 |
| Poland | 20 |
| Switzerland | 20 |
| Chile | 15 |
| South Africa | 15 |
| South Korea | 15 |
| Canada | 10 |
| Japan | 10 |
| Philippines | 5 |
| United States | None |
The legal minimum a year, in working days on a five-day week, before public holidays. Definitions differ: some countries set weeks or calendar days (converted here), the UK lets public holidays count and the United States has no national minimum. Each country page says what its number covers. No comparable figure for: Lithuania, United Arab Emirates.
Working in South Korea
Working hours
The Labor Standards Act limits work to 40 hours a week and 8 hours a day, and lets employers extend it by up to 12 hours a week by agreement, which gives the 52-hour maximum. The limit was phased in by firm size: July 2018 for workplaces with 300 or more employees, January 2020 for 50 to 299 and July 2021 for 5 to 49. Workplaces with fewer than five employees are excluded from the 52-hour limit.
The OECD puts average usual weekly hours at 39.4 for all employed people in 2025, and 43.4 for full-time workers.
Paid leave and holidays
Employees who attend at least 80% of a year get 15 days of paid annual leave, plus one more day for every two continuous years after the first, up to 25 days. In the first year they earn one paid day for each month worked.