Labor foundation hosts Jeju forum on cutting actual working hours

The Korea Labor and Employment Service has brought together labor, management and government representatives in Jeju to discuss ways to raise productivity and spread work-life balance by reducing actual working hours.

The foundation said Wednesday it co-hosted the July Jeju Labor Forum with the Jeju Regional Labor Relations Commission at Jeju Asta Hotel, under the theme "Cutting Actual Working Hours: A Win-Win Solution for Labor and Management."

The forum was designed to go beyond simply trimming hours on paper, seeking instead to improve how work is done so that companies and workers can gain in productivity and work-life balance at the same time. Practical, workplace-centered approaches to reducing working hours — and workplace innovation tailored to Jeju's regional characteristics — were the main topics on the agenda. Bae Gyu-sik, former head of the Korea Labor Institute and director of the actual working-hours reduction roadmap task force, delivered the keynote, presenting a flexible, field-oriented roadmap for cutting working hours. A panel discussion followed, drawing participants from the Jeju Regional Labor Relations Commission, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, the Jeju Employers' Federation, the Jeju Labor Standards Inspection Center under the Gwangju Regional Employment and Labor Office, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province's labor and employment division, the Jeju Labor-Management-Civil-Government Council and the Jeju Labor Rights Center.

"Reducing actual working hours is the starting point for a labor-management partnership that raises corporate productivity through changes in how we work while giving workers a better work-life balance," said Park Jong-pil, secretary-general of the Korea Labor and Employment Service. "We will work closely with local labor, management and government partners to ensure that workplace innovation suited to Jeju's character as a tourism- and service-heavy region takes root on the ground."