Banks struggling to adopt '52-hour workweek'

By Jhoo Dong-chan

KB, Shinhan and other banks are having a difficult time reducing the number of working hours to 52 from the current 68, according to company officials Thursday.

Complying with the government's move to reduce what a National Assembly lawmaker once called its “inhumanly long” work hours, lenders decided earlier this year they would implement the 52-hour workweek rule by July 1. The decision is, however, expected to face diverse tasks as they have yet to establish a related system or work environment to accommodate the reduction.

Only two commercial banks are bracing for the rule while the remaining lenders now say they will implement the rule later this year. But industry insiders said it is practically impossible to cut the current 68 hours to 52 even by the end of the year.

A Shinhan Bank official said it won't be able to implement the 52-hour rule anytime soon.

“I understand top level management is still discussing the issue,” he said. “We are not in a rush. We will implement the rule once we are fully prepared. There is still time.”

NH Nonghyup has also yet to make any decision to accommodate the 52-hour workweek rule.

“We have received a related notice about the rule from the management, but there is still not much change in our work environment,” an NH Nonghyup worker said.

Another industry insider said on condition of anonymity that it will be difficult for banks to set up a new working system while maintaining productivity.

“Banks announced their plan to implement the 52-hour rule earlier this year, but have sat on their hands so far,” an official at a major commercial bank said.

“Working in a commercial bank involves a lot of overtime work. If your job is related to the foreign exchange, you would probably work overtime at night very frequently. It would probably take some time to fully establish the system and change workers' mindsets to implement the rule while maintaining productivity at the same time.”

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) said it won't implement the rule this year.

“Eximbank will implement the 52-hour workweek rule next year,” a bank official said. “We will prepare for the related system before it becomes legally effective.”

According to financial circles, this month, Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) implemented a “PC-off system,” in which the bank shuts down workers' PCs in the office during lunch time.

It also established a taskforce to fully prepare for the 52-hour workweek rule under its CEO Kim Do-jin's leadership.

BNK Busan Bank also introduced a similar system encouraging its workers to leave the office by 6 p.m. Their PCs are also automatically turned off at 6 to help implement the rule, the bank official said.