Korea Seeks Labor Dialogue on Workweek Rules for Semiconductor Clusters

South Korea’s labor minister has proposed a focused social dialogue over plans to relax work-hour regulations inside large semiconductor clusters, seeking to bring unions and employers into negotiations before the government advances special legislation later this month.

Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said Tuesday that the proposed talks should address contentious labor provisions in a planned mega cluster bill. The legislation is expected to combine regulatory exemptions with fiscal, financing and infrastructure support intended to accelerate development of strategic industrial zones.

One option under consideration would exempt managers and researchers in the top 3 percent of income earners from the statutory 52-hour weekly limit. The same group could also be excluded from rules governing overtime, night and holiday work allowances. Korea introduced the 52-hour ceiling in 2018 as a safeguard against excessive working hours.

The government is also examining whether to extend the calculation period for selective working hours in designated cluster zones from one month to six months. That system allows employees to work longer during particularly busy periods, provided their average or total hours remain within the permitted limit across the full calculation period. A longer window could give semiconductor projects more flexibility during intensive research, engineering and construction phases.

The proposal has drawn strong opposition from Korea’s two major umbrella labor organizations. Both have characterized the contemplated relaxation as anti-labor and pledged to resist the bill, placing working conditions and employee protections at the center of a policy drive designed to strengthen industrial competitiveness.

Kim described the contemplated exemptions as a path Korean society has not previously taken and called for a single-issue dialogue dedicated to the matter. He said discussions should not be limited to regulatory flexibility. Proposals from labor and management on protecting worker health and improving corporate productivity should also be included.

The dispute highlights the challenge facing policymakers as Korea expands semiconductor capacity while retaining nationwide protections against overwork. Chip research and manufacturing projects often involve tight development schedules and large, interconnected investments, but labor groups argue that strategic importance should not weaken basic safeguards.

Any compromise would therefore need to define which employees and workplaces qualify, how hours are monitored and what health protections accompany greater flexibility. The proposed dialogue offers a route for those details to be debated before the government’s bill is introduced, though no agreement has yet been announced.