Answer ... The workstyle reform bills are a package of legislation enacted in 2018 and amending half a dozen employment-related laws to promote work-style innovation and flexibility, improve employment security for non-regular employees and ensure a healthy work-life balance. Some of the changes began to be rolled out in 2019, with a moratorium for the benefit of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and specified industries.

Strict overtime caps and criminal sanctions for non-compliance: Some of the changes that kicked in in 2019 became effective on 1 April 2020 for SMEs. The white-collar exemption (see question 3.2) applies to employees who engage in certain types of work and earn compensation above a certain threshold, subject to certain conditions. Stricter rules apply as to the manner in which employee working hours are tracked under the Industrial Safety and Health Law (exempted managers are now covered by the obligation). Employers must track the working hours of all employee by using methods prescribed by Ministerial Ordinance, Guidelines for Measures to Be Taken by Employers to Properly Monitor Working Hours (eg, employer confirming working hours on the spot or using objective methods such as ID card clock-in/clock-out times or computer log-in/log-out times). If an employer cannot use one of these methods, then the employer can confirm and record employees’ starting and finishing times based on their own reporting (self-reporting). The guidelines include several measures to ensure proper monitoring and avoid discrepancies, including:

• the provision of explanations to employees using the method and to HR staff;
• audit/surveys to verify the absence of discrepancies between reported time and actual working hours; and
• no undue pressure on employees to cap their recorded times.

Flex time schemes: Employers can now average an employee’s working hours over a period of up to three months, to deal with workload variations while minimising overtime allowance payments. Teleworking/working from home is encouraged and facilitated.

Annual paid leave: The Labour Standards Law requires employers to designate five days of annual paid leave for employees entitled to 10 days or more of annual paid leave, to ensure that they use at least five days a year.

Non-discriminatory treatment between regular employees and non-regular employees: The compensation levels of non-regular employees (ie, fixed-term contract employees, part-timers and temp staff) should not be unreasonably lower than those of regular staff and they should not be excluded from benefits, unless the lower pay or exclusion is justified by the nature and purpose of the compensation or benefits. If disparities between the labour conditions of fixed-term employees and indefinite-term employees are found unreasonable (based on the content of their duties and the responsibilities attached to the job, the extent of changes to duties and work locations, and other circumstances), the employer must compensate for the harm suffered by the fixed-term employees. Although the number of ‘Article 20’lawsuits (as they concern Article 20 of the Employment Contract Law) is relatively small compared with cases involving wrongful termination or extra wage claims, they have drawn a lot of attention as dealing with an issue central to the Law on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote Work Style Reform. Since 1 April 2020 (a one-year moratorium applies to small and medium-sized enterprises), an employer treating irregular employees differently must explain the rationale behind the differences in treatment upon an employee’s request.