April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae said on Dec. 8 it will reduce its employees’ working hours to 35 per week starting next year as part of its efforts to improve their work-life balance.

It will mark the first case for a local conglomerate to adopt the 35-hour working week policy, when the country‘s standard working hours are 40 a week, Shinsegae said.

All employees from its sprawling businesses in the retail sector, including department stores, duty-free shops and discount stores, will be subject to the change from January, which will cut their daily working hours from the current eight hours to seven, the company added.

Shinsegae also said it will continue the wage hike which has been done annually, regardless of the cut in working hours.

“As the change would bear huge benefits to our employees, we expect them to concentrate more on their work and voluntarily take part in establishing a working environment that would improve overall productivity,” Shinsegae said in a press release.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)