Where working-hour standards are set separately with R&D employees, do the cap on hours and overtime premium pay still apply?

The Bill Read and Its Confirmed Status

This piece reads Bill No. 2221126, a Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act. The bill was proposed by Assembly Member Lee Cheol-gyu and nine others on September 7, 2026, and the session is shown as the 439th session of the National Assembly (regular session). As at the verification date of October 16, 2026, the National Assembly progress screen records referral to the competent committee, the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, on September 8, 2026. Committee tabling and resolution, review by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, plenary deliberation, and transmission to the Government were not shown on the screen on that date.

The parts read are the reasons for the proposal and main contents, the amended provisions, the addenda, and the comparison table of new and current provisions in the PDF of the bill's original text. During the same period there was also another amendment to the Labor Standards Act seeking to broaden the unit for managing working hours (Bill No. 2220602), but this piece does not compare the two, because it viewed only the reasons for the proposal on that bill's detail page and did not read its original text.

Sources for this section: National Participatory Legislation Center, Status of National Assembly Legislation: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · PDF of the Bill's Original Text: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126)

The Working Hours Framework Currently Set by the Law in Force

The Labor Standards Act in force on the verification date is Act No. 21533, effective October 8, 2026. Article 50 sets 40 hours per week and 8 hours per day, and Article 53(1) provides that working hours may be extended by agreement between the parties up to a limit of 12 hours per week. Article 53(4) permits extension, where there are special circumstances, with the authorisation of the Minister of Employment and Labor and the consent of the employee, and paragraph (7) of the same Article requires that, in such a case, health protection measures determined by the Minister, such as health examinations or the grant of rest time, be taken.

Article 59(1) permits an employer in listed businesses, such as the transport and health care industries, to have employees work extended hours exceeding 12 hours per week or to change recess hours if the employer reaches a written agreement with the employee representative, and paragraph (2) requires that a continuous rest of at least 11 hours be given between working days. Article 58(3) deems that, in discretionary work prescribed by Presidential Decree, the employee has worked the hours fixed by written agreement with the employee representative. Article 63 provides that the provisions on working hours, recess and holidays do not apply to agricultural, forestry and fisheries businesses, to approved employees engaged in surveillance or intermittent work, or to persons engaged in work prescribed by Presidential Decree.

Article 56(1) defines extended work as work during hours extended under Article 53, Article 59, or the proviso to Article 69, and requires an additional payment of at least 50/100 of ordinary wages, while paragraphs (2) and (3) set the additional payment for holiday work and night work. Article 110 subparagraph 1 punishes violations of, among others, Article 50, Article 53(1) and (2), the main text of paragraph (4) and paragraph (7) of the same Article, Article 54, Article 55, and Article 59(2), by imprisonment with labour for not more than two years or a fine not exceeding KRW 20 million. Article 2 subparagraph 2 of the Special Act on Strengthening and Protecting the Competitiveness of National High-Tech Strategic Industries defines a national high-tech strategic industry as an industry, among others, that researches and develops or commercialises strategic technology and that is designated by public notice of the Minister of Trade and Industry.

Sources for this section: Korea Law Information Center, Labor Standards Act in Force (Act No. 21533, effective October 8, 2026) · Korea Law Information Center, Special Act on Strengthening and Protecting the Competitiveness of National High-Tech Strategic Industries in Force (Act No. 21738, effective June 2, 2026)

What the Bill Seeks to Change

Article 59-2(1) of the bill would provide that, for a person engaged in research and development work in a national high-tech strategic industry, where it is deemed necessary in light of earned income, work methods and the like, the employer may, by written agreement with the party, apply a separate standard notwithstanding the provisions of this Chapter on working hours, recess and holidays, and extended, night and holiday work. Using the tool on the verification date, no Article 59-2 could be found in the Act currently in force.

Article 59-2(2) of the bill provides that, where a different standard is applied, the employer is to take appropriate measures as determined by the Minister of Employment and Labor, such as granting recess time or holidays commensurate with the extended working hours, or equivalent opportunities for rest. Paragraph (3) delegates to Presidential Decree the types of research and development work, the method of written agreement, and the scope of the separate standard. The bill would insert Article 59-2(2) into Article 110 subparagraph 1, making a breach of the health protection measures punishable. The addenda provide that the Act enters into force on the day on which six months have elapsed after its promulgation.

The current-law column of the comparison table of new and current provisions records Article 110 subparagraph 1 as referring to Article 60(1), (2), and (4) through (6), and Article 104. The provision in force on the verification date reads Article 60(1), (2), (4) and (5), and Article 104(2). Because the amending instruction inserts the new reference before Article 60(1), the effect on the resulting text appears small, but this piece reads the provision as in force on the verification date, not the current-law column of the comparison table.

Sources for this section: PDF of the Bill's Original Text: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · Korea Law Information Center, Labor Standards Act in Force (Act No. 21533, effective October 8, 2026)

Is the Party to the Written Agreement the Individual Employee or the Employee Representative?

Article 59-2(1) of the bill speaks of a written agreement with the party. Under the current Act, discretionary work under Article 58(3) and the special cases under Article 59(1) both require a written agreement with the employee representative, and only the agreement on extension under Article 53(1) is described as an agreement between the parties. The provision does not make clear whether the bill opens a standard that may exceed even the 12-hours-per-week limit through agreement with an individual employee, or whether the involvement of the employee representative may be provided for in the method of written agreement delegated to Presidential Decree.

The provision also does not say who deems a case necessary. The sentence structure suggests that the employer makes that judgement, but, if an earned-income threshold is set by Presidential Decree, the provision is silent on the effect of an agreement concluded with an employee who does not exceed that threshold, on any prohibition of disadvantageous treatment of an employee who refuses to agree, and on whether the agreement may be withdrawn and for how long it remains valid. Should the parties to the agreement, withdrawal, and the prohibition of disadvantageous treatment be set out in the Act?

Sources for this section: PDF of the Bill's Original Text: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · Korea Law Information Center, Labor Standards Act in Force (Act No. 21533, effective October 8, 2026)

Is There a Ceiling That the Separate Standard Cannot Exceed?

Article 59-2(1) of the bill provides that a separate standard may be applied notwithstanding the provisions on working hours, recess and holidays, and extended, night and holiday work, and paragraph (3) delegates the scope of that standard to Presidential Decree. Article 59(2) of the current Act, while opening special cases, places the 11-hour continuous rest between working days directly in the Act and punishes its breach under Article 110. The bill sets no statutory floor in the Act, such as a weekly total, continuous rest, or a minimum guarantee of holidays.

The provision also does not settle whether the separate standard may alter even the paid holiday of at least one day per week on average under Article 55(1) of the current Act and the recess time under Article 54, or, if so, what becomes of the punishment under Article 110 for violations of Articles 54 and 55. The exclusion from application under Article 63 designates the covered employees by the Act and Presidential Decree and excludes the application of the provisions altogether, whereas the bill states that it changes the standard rather than excluding application, so the boundary between the two schemes is also unclear. By what should the Act set the outer limit of the scope delegated to Presidential Decree?

Sources for this section: PDF of the Bill's Original Text: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · Korea Law Information Center, Labor Standards Act in Force (Act No. 21533, effective October 8, 2026)

Does Premium Pay Attach to Hours Increased Under the Separate Standard?

Article 56(1) of the current Act defines extended work as work during hours extended under Article 53, Article 59, or the proviso to Article 69. Because the bill does not amend Article 56, hours increased under Article 59-2 of the bill do not fall within this definition. Moreover, Article 59-2(1) of the bill states that the separate standard applies notwithstanding the provisions on extended, night and holiday work, a wording under which the premium standard in Article 56 itself may become subject to the separate standard.

The reasons for the proposal identify only the uniform application of the working hours cap as the problem and do not state any purpose of altering wage compensation. The health protection measures in Article 59-2(2) of the bill cite, as examples, recess or holidays commensurate with the extended working hours, but the provision does not make clear whether this is compensation in lieu of premium pay or a separate obligation. Should premium pay for hours to which the separate standard is applied be retained in the Act?

Sources for this section: PDF of the Bill's Original Text: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · Korea Law Information Center, Labor Standards Act in Force (Act No. 21533, effective October 8, 2026)

Is the Wording Clear Enough to Make Appropriate Measures Determined by the Minister an Element of a Criminal Offence?

The bill would insert Article 59-2(2) into Article 110 subparagraph 1, so that an employer that fails to take the health protection measures is punished by imprisonment with labour for not more than two years or a fine not exceeding KRW 20 million. The content of the obligation, however, is appropriate measures as determined by the Minister of Employment and Labor, such as granting recess time or holidays commensurate with the extended working hours, or equivalent opportunities for rest. Article 53(7) of the current Act likewise prescribes measures determined by the Minister in the same manner, and Article 110 subparagraph 1 punishes its breach.

Article 53(7) attaches to the narrow situation of authorised extended work, whereas the bill attaches to a scheme that changes the standard itself by Presidential Decree. Since the punishable conduct is determined by the content of the Minister's public notice, the provision does not say how much of a shortfall in rest constitutes a violation, or against what the phrase "commensurate with the extended working hours" is to be calculated. Should the minimum content of the measures that form an element of the offence be set out in the Act?

Sources for this section: PDF of the Bill's Original Text: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · Korea Law Information Center, Labor Standards Act in Force (Act No. 21533, effective October 8, 2026)

Commencement and remaining issues

The addenda propose that the Act enter into force on the day on which six months have elapsed after its promulgation. This is a proposed condition, not a fixed date, and this piece does not calculate a date from the date of proposal. No provisions on application or transitional measures are included.

The covered industries are tied to those designated by public notice of the Minister of Trade and Industry under Article 2 subparagraph 2 of the Special Act on Strengthening and Protecting the Competitiveness of National High-Tech Strategic Industries, and the covered work and the income threshold are delegated to Presidential Decree. The provision does not make clear whether a written agreement already concluded loses effect if the public notice changes and a workplace drops out of the covered industries, or how an employee who performs both research and development and production at the same workplace is to be classified. Where is the effect of agreements to be determined when the scope of coverage changes?

Sources for this section: PDF of the Bill's Original Text: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · Korea Law Information Center, Special Act on Strengthening and Protecting the Competitiveness of National High-Tech Strategic Industries in Force (Act No. 21738, effective June 2, 2026)

What This Piece Has Not Verified

This piece has not read the review report, the minutes, the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act or the related public notices, or the original texts of other working hours amendment bills. Nor has it verified the current list in the public notice on national high-tech strategic industries or the actual working conditions of research and development personnel. In quotations from the original texts, the middle dot (interpunct) has been rendered in adapted form.

This piece neither supports nor opposes the bill and does not recommend legislation. It does not predict the outcome of further proceedings and contains no assessment of the management of working hours at any individual workplace.

Sources for this section: National Participatory Legislation Center, Status of National Assembly Legislation: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · PDF of the Bill's Original Text: Partial Amendment to the Labor Standards Act (No. 2221126) · Korea Law Information Center, Labor Standards Act in Force (Act No. 21533, effective October 8, 2026) · Korea Law Information Center, Special Act on Strengthening and Protecting the Competitiveness of National High-Tech Strategic Industries in Force (Act No. 21738, effective June 2, 2026)