From eDaily:
“Short Holidays, Demanding Bosses” Vacation Usage for Korean Employees at the Bottom.
A survey revealed that Korean employees are given the least paid holidays and their holiday usage rate is on the lowest level in comparison to other major countries.
The survey revealed the reality of Korean workers who cannot use holidays on their own terms because they have to cancel or postpone their vacation plans due to work or they have to act according to their bosses who restrict their holiday usage.
This survey was conducted by online travel agency Expedia with 8687 employees from 22 countries in the world.
According to the survey results that came out on the 19th, the number of paid holidays per year for Korean employees is 10 days on average, which is the least among the 22 countries. The number of actually used holidays is also only about 7 days on average. Korea’s holiday usage rate was the second lowest after that of Japan where 5 out of 13 paid holidays are used.
In 10 countries including France and the UK, the workers answered that they use 100% of given holidays. Taiwan has the same number of paid holidays as Korea but the number of actually used holidays was higher with 12 days on average.
With regards to the reasons of postponing or cancelling vacations, 67% of the Korean employees chose ‘due to work’, which is the second highest after Taiwan. Besides Korea, employees from mainly Asian and Latin American countries such as Taiwan, India, Brazil and Mexico have their vacation plans interfered by work.
On the other hand, employees from European or North American regions have their holidays relatively less affected by work.
Answering a question on whether or not your boss is positive about your holiday usage, a high portion of the respondents answered ‘no’. 58% of the Korean employees said their bosses are negative about their holidays, which is the second highest among the 22 countries. 67% of the Italian employees answered negative, which is the highest rate, but it was found that they use 20 out of 28 paid holidays on average. Their number of used holidays is 3 times higher than that of Korea.
Reflecting these results, 55.2% of the Korean employees favored benefit returns over holidays.
However, when asked whether they get to save up their unused holidays, only 39.2% answered ‘yes’.
45% of the Korean employees, the highest among the 22 countries, would go on a ‘romantic trip’ over all other choices if they are given only one chance for a vacation. This is an outstanding result compared to the ‘vacation on the beach’ that was favored in most other countries.
Comments from Naver:
mtbm****:
Holidays and time-off should be handed out carefully and accurately to reward work efficiency. Just shoving work down the throat only degrades efficiency and taking a break is also a means to work better.
rudg****:
Korean companies are No. 1 at exploiting their employees!!!!
hyun****:
Don’t they have to give you money if you don’t use a paid vacation?
hymm****:
I quit this job on salary because I despised it and I’m running my own business. The executives are the problem. Korean workplaces in a hierarchical order are just like the army or gangs. They give you a hard time although we all live on salary! That’s because it’s like a dictatorship. Workers should be the owners. They say they give you money for cultural activities but they don’t even give you enough time. Are they teasing you or what? Then, they go around advertising that they do everything to improve their employees’ welfare.
dktm****:
Before everything, please obey the maximum work hours. It is a universal labor law as a result of an International agreement.
dltl****:
Why would you want to leave the country after saving money? This is the best country completely suited for the rich people.
loye****:
Korea has the longest working hours. Interestingly, the unemployment rate is also high. Those few people who have good jobs get paid well but they have no fun because they work to death. On the other hand, the unemployed people suffering from social deprivation commit more crimes. It would be better if they cut down the working time and salary to 2/3 and hire 1.5 times more people but those few rich people in good position cannot accept that because of their greed. This is lethal to Korea because parents’ overwork or deprivation ruins their children’s personality and life, resulting in their misbehavior. It disheartens me because I love Korea….
jpj8****:
The moment you often take your holidays will be your eternal vacation~~
aiso****:
If you can use your holidays freely, women don’t need menstrual leave so wouldn’t the reverse discrimination controversy go away?; It is not a privilege to take a break when you are sick. It is a right of every human being.
yomi****:
Would you want to have a second child in Korea? Politicians always talk about halving tuitions or exempting third kids from tuitions ha ha That’s funny. You can have second and third children when you are happy…….. Politicians luring dumb people with money ha ha All that money comes from your taxes ha ha
ssyk****:
Just like I would expect from a country with the longest working hours.
baks****:
Our country has too many weaknesses compared to strengths.
bbaa****:
In my opinion, taking over tasks is regarded differently from developed countries. If you leave on a vacation and someone else takes over your task, in developed countries, clients generally understand the situation when some mistake happens unless it’s such a big deal. However, in Korean social context, if someone in charge of your job makes a mistake, everyone including you gets in trouble, which contributes much to the problem.
oheu****:
Our national economy is close to a developed country but in social awareness, it is still a developing country…
fant****:
If you go to work late, your superiors make a fuss but they don’t let you go home at the right time or take holidays. I want to restart my life in a foreign country.
wls1****:
In tough rough Korea, if you enjoy all your holidays, you can have holidays for the rest of your life.
mago****:
Korea, the backward labor country
rkfr****:
Looking like a developed country only on the outside… freaking shameful.
trip****:
If you are born in Korea, you have to live a wasteful life to be respected as a man and a father. What you have to do is pre-determined, just like the quests in online games. By the time you finish all the quests, your life will end, too.
