Lee Jae Myung's labor policies score 68.6 out of 100 in public survey — even at ruling party forum

A public survey marking the first year of the Lee Jae Myung administration gave its labor policies an average score of 68.6 out of 100. Respondents broadly agreed with the overall direction of the policies, but several flagship initiatives — including the so-called "yellow envelope law" (amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act), a four-and-a-half-day workweek and integrated support for foreign workers — received below-average marks.

The Working Citizens Institute, the Office Finance Ubuntu Foundation and the Korea Non-Standard Workers Center released the findings Wednesday at a forum titled "One-Year Assessment of the Lee Jae Myung Government's Labor Policies," held at the National Assembly. The survey covered 38 labor policy items drawn from the administration's national agenda and was conducted among 1,000 adults nationwide from July 1 to 5.

The results were unveiled at a forum hosted by the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Yong-woo.

After converting four-point scale responses to a 100-point scale, the overall average came to 68.6. Individual policies fared worse: the four-and-a-half-day workweek scored 61.2, the yellow envelope law 59.2, and integrated support for foreign workers just 51.7 — all below the mean. The lowest-rated item was a policy allowing young workers who voluntarily quit to claim unemployment benefits, which scored 51.1.

At the other end of the scale, tougher penalties for employers who withhold wages topped the rankings at 84.6 points. Imposing surcharges on wage theft (82.0 points) and regional and industry-level social dialogue (75.7 points) also drew relatively favorable assessments.

The survey revealed sharp divides in how different groups view the policies. On the four-and-a-half-day workweek, full-time employees averaged 67.3 points, while the self-employed and unemployed averaged just 49.3 — a gap of 18.0 points. Age also mattered: respondents aged 35 to 44 gave the policy 71.2 points, compared with 54.1 among those 55 and older, a difference of 17.1 points. The yellow envelope law showed a gap of up to 13.8 points depending on employment status and job type.

Kim Jong-jin, director of the Working Citizens Institute, said opposition to policies such as the youth voluntary-quit unemployment benefit, the four-and-a-half-day workweek and the yellow envelope law tends to concentrate among specific groups. "We need to explain the policy rationale — that these are expansions of universal basic rights — while also moving away from treating the intended beneficiaries as a monolithic group," he said.