Working conditions in Korea: Survey highlights

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1 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Itroductio Methodology Mai fidigs Traiig Health ad safety advice Use of iformatio techology Satisfactio with workig coditios Workig time Commetary Aex Wyattville Road, Loughlistow, Dubli 18, Irelad. - Tel: (+353 1) Fax: / postmaster@eurofoud.europa.eu - website:

2 The Korea service sector has grow sice the first survey o workig coditios was coducted i The characteristics of the labour market are similar to those of the EU labour market, although log workig hours are still a major issue to be tackled, alog with discrimiatio agaist wome, older workers ad temporary employees. The pricipal work-related risk factor is poor ergoomics, particularly i smaller busiesses, which have poorer workig eviromets tha larger compaies. Itroductio The Korea Workig Coditios Survey (KWCS) is based o the Europea Workig Coditios Survey (EWCS), which has bee coducted five times sice The KWCS surveys Korea workers o their workig coditios, to fid out their exposure to risk factors ad how these risk factors are affected by occupatio, busiess or employmet type. Despite growig iterest i workig coditios, ot eough kowledge exists to iform policy decisios o improvemets. So far, iterest i workig coditios has focused maily o the risks posed by equipmet ad chemicals. However, psychosocial work-related risk factors are ow the focus of attetio, especially i relatio to the type of employmet, the workig coditios of specific vulerable groups, ad geder-related differeces. Iformatio o Korea workers exposure to physical ad chemical risk factors ca be obtaied from measuremets i the workig eviromet itself or from the atioal workig eviromet survey, carried out every five years. However, there is o iformatio o exposure to psychosocial risk factors, or ay iformatio o the workig coditios of particular groups. The first KWCS was carried out by the Korea Occupatioal Safety ad Health Agecy (KOSHA) i 2006, with the aim of drawig up a occupatioal safety ad health policy to ehace workig coditios. The secod KWCS was carried out i 2010 to collect iformatio o how workig coditios had chaged sice the first survey ad to iform ay ew policy. Methodology The KWCS is modelled o the EWCS ad has bee carried out three times. The first survey was coducted i 2006 ad the secod i The third survey was coducted i 2011 with a exteded sample size. The results here are from the secod, 2010, survey. I 2005 the EWCS questioaire was traslated ito Korea ad the modified to fit Korea culture ad workig coditios. I 2006, the first wave of the survey was coducted, with a total of 10,043 iterviews. I 2010, with strog support from the Korea public ad Miistry of Employmet ad Labour, the secod wave was coducted. This icluded questios from the UK Labour Force Survey o idustrial accidets ad disease. For the secod survey, a total of 10,019 workers were iterviewed i their homes. The respose rate was 32.1%. The third wave of the survey had a icreased budget of KRW 2 billio (EUR 1,320,850 as at 29 February 2012), ad 50,000 completed iterviews are expected to esure the accuracy ad itegrity of the results ad to provide comprehesive statistical data. Data collectio Traied iterviewers iterviewed 10,000 employees i their homes i 16 cities ad provices betwee 20 Jue ad 10 October 2010, a total of 15 weeks, excludig the log weeked of Chuseok (Korea s traditioal Thaksgivig Day). The populatio for the secod KWCS is all those aged 15 ad over i employmet i Korea durig the referece period. The criterio of employmet is the same as that of the EWCS ad the Labour Force Survey carried out by the Natioal Statistical Office: ayoe who performs ay work for at least oe hour for pay ad profit durig the referece week. Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios,

3 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Samplig ad weightig A represetative sample of the ecoomically active populatio over 15 years old (who were either employees or selfemployed at the time of iterview) were selected. Retired ad uemployed persos, as well as housewives ad studets, were excluded. The sample was draw from the populatio ad housig cesus. I the first stage, cesus districts were selected usig probability proportioal to size systematic samplig, based o the umber of households i the cesus district. Subsequetly, te households were sampled radomly withi each selected cesus district. The fial iterviewees of the survey were selected by firstly esurig that there was a eligible perso i the selected household, ad the, if there were more tha oe eligible perso, selectig the oe whose birthday was closest to the referece day. The survey weightig was carried out o the basis of the ecoomically active populatio, which meas that its distributio by regio, locality, size, geder, age, ecoomic activity ad occupatio is idetical to that of the active populatio distributio. Questioaire The questioaire for the secod KWCS was based o the fifth EWCS (carried out i 2010). However, the sectio o disaster ad disease is based o the 2009 UK Labour Force Survey. The mai topics covered i the questioaire are job cotext, workig time, workig itesity, physical risk factors, cogitive factors, psychosocial factors, health ad well-beig, skills, traiig ad career prospects, work orgaisatio, social relatioships, job fulfilmet, work life balace ad fiacial security, ad violece, harassmet ad discrimiatio. Mai fidigs The types of busiess ad occupatio, place of work, ad employees ages ad educatio levels are similar to the EU average i However, there are differeces i the workig eviromet, icludig workig hours, job demads ad work autoomy. People work, o average, 47.6 hours per week. They work a 10-hour day, o average, 17.1 days per moth, while 49.5% of employees work over six days per week. Compared to 2006, the 2010 survey shows a reductio i the umber of people workig i agriculture ad maufacturig, with a icrease i the umber workig i the service idustry. The umber of employees workig five days per week has icreased, while the umber of people workig ostadard hours (ight shifts ad weekeds) is decreasig. The proportio of shift workers icreased to 11% i 2010, which is 4 percetage poits higher tha i More me work shifts tha wome. The most commo form of shift work is the regular two-shift system. Workig hours, exposure to risk factors, job demads ad work autoomy vary widely, depedig o idustry, occupatio, employmet type ad age. There are clear differeces betwee geders i the workig eviromet. Job demads are higher for male employees tha female employees. Me are more highly traied tha wome, are more likely to be i maagemet or have supervisory roles, ad ear substatially more. 2 Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios, 2012

4 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights There is a greater exposure to ergoomic risk factors tha physical risk factors. Provisio of iformatio to workers about these risks i the workplace has icreased sice Musculoskeletal problems related to work are commo, with oe i three of respodets complaiig of upper-limb muscular pai related to work. The rate of absece from work due to health problems is 8.3%, with a average of 13.4 days absece (lower tha i the EU, which has a average of 20.2 days or 13.5%). Although the rate of absece from work due to health problems is a importat way of assessig the quality of the workig eviromet, care should be take iterpretig this result as it is iflueced by factors such as society, ecoomy, culture ad welfare. Traiig The survey shows that a quarter (26.4%) of workers received traiig paid for by their employers i the previous 12 moths i order to improve their kowledge ad techical skills (Figure 1); 28.5% of male workers receive traiig, compared with 23.1% of female workers. Employees youger tha 25 ad older tha 55 receive less traiig tha employees i other age groups. There are also differeces i the amout of traiig accordig to the size of the workplace. While 72.6% of employees i firms with 500 or more employees receive employer-paid traiig, the umber drops to 13.6% of employees i firms with fewer tha 10 employees. Figure 1: Workers receivig traiig paid for by their employers (%) No 73.6% Yes 26.4% Some 38.4% of permaet employees receive employer-paid traiig, compared with 18.6% of fixed-term employees ad 4.8% of temporary agecy employees. The amout of this sort of traiig also differs accordig to occupatio. The occupatios with the highest amout of employer-paid traiig are military service (68.6%), clerical work (43.5%), higher admiistratio (42.7%), ad professioal ad techical occupatios (42.5%). The occupatios with the lowest level of employer-paid traiig are services (18.7%) ad sales (16.6%). Broke dow by level of skill, 21.4% of skilled workers, 28.8% of semi-skilled workers, ad 11.4% of uskilled workers receive employer-paid traiig. Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios,

Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Health ad safety advice Oly 54.3% of workers receive iformatio about risks to health ad safety i the workplace (Figure 2). This meas that 45.

Figure 2: Workers iformed about risks to health ad safety (%) Iformed 54.3% Not iformed 45.7% 30.9% 23.4% 25.7% 20.

5 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Health ad safety advice Oly 54.3% of workers receive iformatio about risks to health ad safety i the workplace (Figure 2). This meas that 45.7% are still ot well iformed, ad immediate attetio is eeded to address this issue. Iformatio is more commoly give to permaet employees (64.1%) tha to fixed-term ad temporary agecy employees (52.4%). Figure 2: Workers iformed about risks to health ad safety (%) Iformed 54.3% Not iformed 45.7% 30.9% 23.4% 25.7% 20.0% Very well iformed Well iformed Not very well iformed Not at all well iformed Use of iformatio techology I relatio to use of techology, 39.4% of respodets say they use computers for more tha a quarter of their workig hours, with 36.2% usig the iteret or dealig with for more tha a quarter of their workig hours, ad 22.5% spedig all their workig time usig a computer or usig the iteret ad (Figure 3). The rate of computer use is higher amog male respodets (23.3%) tha female respodets (20.9%). Sorted by occupatio, the highest level of computer use is i professioal ad techical occupatios (34.1%), higher admiistrator occupatios (41.5%), ad clerical occupatios (56.7%). A lower use of computers is foud i service (9.5%) ad sales occupatios (13.8%), ad i skilled (11.9%) ad uskilled occupatios (2.1%). Figure 3: Workers usig IT (%) Use more tha a quarter of the time 39.4% Computer Use more tha a quarter of the time 36.2% Iteret/ All of the time Almost all of the time Aroud three-quarters of the time Aroud half of the time Aroud a quarter of the time Almost ever Never 4 Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios, 2012

Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Satisfactio with workig coditios Over two-thirds (69.1%) of respodets are satisfied with their workig eviromet.

6 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Satisfactio with workig coditios Over two-thirds (69.1%) of respodets are satisfied with their workig eviromet. However, there is a differece i satisfactio level depedig o occupatio (Figure 4): 90.2% of respodets i higher admiistrator occupatios are satisfied or very satisfied with their workig eviromets, compared to oly 54.7% of people i uskilled occupatios. Figure 4: Satisfactio with workig coditios by occupatio ad skill level (%) Professioal ad techical Higher admiistrator Clerical Sales Services Agricultural Skilled workers Semi-skilled workers Uskilled workers Very satisfied Satisfied Not very satisfied Not at all satisfied Do t kow/o opiio Workig time Koreas iterest i the quality of work ad i work life balace has icreased sice Their workig hours have gradually reduced from 2004 whe the 5-day ad the 40-hour work week systems bega to be promoted i phases, depedig o the size of workplace (Figure 5). The first KWCS, i 2006, showed that respodets worked a average of 51.3 hours per week. The secod survey shows a reductio to 47.6 hours. Waged workers have see, o average, their weekly workig hours drop from 48.1 to 45 hours. Female workers have shorter weekly workig hours tha me, because, as i the EU, more wome take part-time jobs. Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios,

Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Figure 5: Average weekly workig hours by geder ad employmet status 70 60 50 40 51.8 49.4 58.7 54.3 50.2 51.3 48.1 47.6 45.

7 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Figure 5: Average weekly workig hours by geder ad employmet status Me Wome Employees Employers & self-employed Total The distributio patter of workig hours of employees is very differet from that of self-employed workers, with 48.9% of the latter reportig that they work 60 hours or more per week (Figure 6). Figure 6: Distributio of workig hours by employmet status (%) 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% < Weekly hours Self-employed Employees The proportio of Koreas workers who work more tha five days per week has decreased over the last four years (Figure 7). However, Korea workers still have a loger workig week tha EU workers had i 2005, with 50% of Korea workers workig more tha five days per week. 6 Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios, 2012

Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Figure 7: Number of days worked per week i Korea (2006 & 2010) ad the EU (2005) (%) Korea 2006 10.1 36.9 39.5 13.5 Korea 2010 7.8 42.6 38.0 11.5 EU 2005 12.

However, compared with the first survey, the secod survey idicates that this kid of irregular workig schedule is decreasig (Figure 8).

8 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Figure 7: Number of days worked per week i Korea (2006 & 2010) ad the EU (2005) (%) Korea Korea EU % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% < 5 days 5 days 6 days 7 days Half of workers do ot work ormal workig hours, workig istead at eveigs, ights ad weekeds. However, compared with the first survey, the secod survey idicates that this kid of irregular workig schedule is decreasig (Figure 8). This is caused by positive chages i workig hours, such as the promotio of the five-day workig week. More me tha wome work i the eveig or at ight, showig a decreasig tred with icreasig age. More selfemployed people tha employees work irregular hours. There are also differeces accordig to occupatio, with more people i clerical occupatios workig irregular hours tha those i maufacturig occupatios, ad more workig these hours i service occupatios tha i sales. Figure 8: Eveig ad ight work i Korea (2006 & 2010) ad the EU (2005) (%) 60% 50% 40% 30% % 10% 0% eveigs per moth > 5 eveigs per moth 1 5 ights per moth > 5 ights per moth Weeked work is more prevalet i Korea tha i the EU; 62% work o a Saturday at least oce a moth, ad 29% work o a Suday at least oce a moth. There has bee a clear reductio i weeked workig over the last four years (Figure 9). Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios,

Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Figure 9: Weeked work i Korea (2006 & 2010) ad the EU (2005) (%) 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 45.5 28.2 42.6 19.7 22.0 30.0 16.7 23.2 14.4 14.7 8.0 20.

1% of all workers (employees ad self-employed) work the same umber of hours every day, 76.6% work the same umber of days every week, ad 71.9% have fixed startig ad fiishig times.

9 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Figure 9: Weeked work i Korea (2006 & 2010) ad the EU (2005) (%) 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Saturdays per moth 4 5 Saturdays per moth 1 5 Sudays per moth 4 5 Sudays per moth Lookig at regularity of workig hours, 69.1% of all workers (employees ad self-employed) work the same umber of hours every day, 76.6% work the same umber of days every week, ad 71.9% have fixed startig ad fiishig times. The proportio of Koreas with regular work schedules has, however, decreased over the last four years (Figure 10). Figure 10: Regularity of workig time i Korea (2006 & 2010) ad the EU (2005) (%) 90% 80% 70% 60% % 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Same umber of hours every day Same umber of hours every week Fixed startig & fiishig times I 2010, the proportio of workers o shift work was 11%, a icrease of 4 percetage poits o 2006 (Figure 11). Two regular shifts is the most commo type of shift work (48%). More me tha wome do shift work. Shift work is more commo i sales (9.9%), maufacturig (12.4%) ad services (13.6%) tha i clerical occupatios (3.1%). 8 Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios, 2012

Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Figure 11: Shift work prevalece by survey; distributio by type of shiftwork, 2010 20% 17% 25% 15% 10% 11% 4% 45% 7% 5% 26% 0% Rotatig two-shift Daily split

The first was to ascertai what health ad safety risks were posed to workers, ad to idetify the most hazardous occupatios so that they ca be targeted by policy.

10 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Figure 11: Shift work prevalece by survey; distributio by type of shiftwork, % 17% 25% 15% 10% 11% 4% 45% 7% 5% 26% 0% Rotatig two-shift Daily split shift Rotatig three-shift Others Commetary This detailed survey o workig coditios had several purposes. The first was to ascertai what health ad safety risks were posed to workers, ad to idetify the most hazardous occupatios so that they ca be targeted by policy. Secodly, KOSHA ot oly wated to fid out about actual workig coditios but also about what had chaged, ad agai to use this iformatio to establish a health ad safety policy tailored to curret workig coditios. Lastly, KOSHA wated to fid the correlatio betwee the labour market ad health risk factors, so that it could formulate a effective policy to reduce risk at work. The survey therefore aalysed the respodets workig structure, workig hours, job traiig, health ad well-beig, ad job satisfactio ad whether they had equal opportuities. The survey also compared workig coditios betwee Korea ad Europe. Aex Quality cotrol of the survey Quality cotrol for the survey iterviews was doe i three stages: 1. iteral examiatio by a local supervisor; 2. iteral ispectio by the specialised editor at KOSHA s headquarters; 3. radom phoe verificatio of 30% of iterviews. The radom verificatio cofirmed address, geder, date of birth, occupatio, ad exposure to health risk factors i the respodet s preset occupatio. Iformatio was also gathered o the method of fillig out the survey, duratio of the survey, ad satisfactio with the iterviewer. Ay questioaires which raised problems as a result of the verificatio were retured to the local supervisor to be checked ad cofirmed. The umber of questioaires collected was 10,132, with 113 discarded due to quality cotrol. This meat 10,019 questioaires were icluded i the fial data, which exceeded the target sample size of 10,000 iterviews. Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios,

11 Workig coditios i Korea: Survey highlights Coordiators ad cotact iformatio Occupatioal Safety ad Health Research Istitute (OSHRI) Korea Occupatioal Safety ad Health Agecy (KOSHA) 478 Muemi-ro, Bupyeog-gu, Icheo, , Republic of Korea Website: EF/12/19/EN 10 Europea Foudatio for the Improvemet of Livig ad Workig Coditios, 2012

This article is part of a series providing

This article is part of a series providing feature Bryce Millard ad Adrew Machi Characteristics of public sector workers SUMMARY This article presets aalysis of public sector employmet, ad makes comparisos with the private sector, usig data from