Immediate Push for the Improvement of Special Extended Work Related Policies
▶ Expansion of authorized special extended work periods concerning construction workers dispatched
overseas
▶ Establishment of procedures to change authorized periods to allow for calculating annual utilization
periods (90 days) with actual utilized days
▶ Streamlining complicated post-application deadlines
In a bid to resolve difficulties in the field, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), headed by Minster
Lee Jung Sik, will immediately push for the improvement of three special extended work related regulations.
At the Emergency Meeting on Economic Affairs presided over by the president on Thursday, October 27, it
was announced that extend special extended work authorization periods will be extended for construction
workers dispatched overseas for the purpose of enhancing the international competitiveness of construction
companies conducting projects overseas.
The ministry will also establish procedures to change authorized periods to allow for calculating actual used
days as annual utilization periods, and streamline complicated post-application deadlines.
Regarding the three above-mentioned items, the guidelines for handling work related to special extended
work authorization will be revised and implemented from October 31, 2022.
？？ Expansion of special extended work authorized periods concerning construction workers dispatched
overseas
Regarding overseas construction sites, to which both domestic and local laws are applied, special extended
work authorization periods are extended to allow for annual utilization of Korean workers dispatched to
those sites in consideration of special occasions that differ from Korean environments and situations.
According to the survey by the International Contractors Association of Korea, the most pertinent difficulties
facing Korean construction companies include issues related to collaboration with local suppliers including
responding to ordering businesses (69.2%), climate conditions (50%), and other issues.
Due to local environments and situations—sand storms in the Middle East, rainy seasons in Southeast Asia,
and frozen land for almost half the year in Mongolia—concentrated work in certain periods is inevitably
required.
Accordingly, the special extended work authorization period will be immediately extended from the current
90 days to 180 days for reasons under items 3 (handling unexpected situations) and 4 (surge in workload).
？？ Establishment of procedures to change authorized periods to allow for calculating annual utilization
periods (90 days) with actual utilized days
The procedure to change special extended work authorization will be established to allow for the
calculation of annual utilization periods with actual utilized days instead of initially approved days.
Even through 90 days are allowed for special extended work for reasons falling under items 3(handling
unexpected situations) and 4(surge in workload), there is no procedure to change initially approved periods
for cases where it becomes unnecessary or in which situations change.
This sometimes results in unreasonable situations, as initially authorized periods are calculated as annual
utilization days regardless of actual utilization.
Thus, a procedure to change authorized periods will be established to allow establishments that have not
used all initial authorized periods to change such periods so that days actually used can be reflected in the
annual utilization days.
Businesses wishing to change authorized periods can apply for such changes to the regional MOEL offices
at which they obtained authorizations—with documents to confirm the actual special extended work days
and working hours during these periods—within a week upon the expiration of the initial authorization
periods. The application form is available at the MOEL website as of October 31st.
？？ Streamlining complex post-application deadlines
Post-application deadlines that were previously set differently depending on authorization reasons and
periods will now be set uniformly.
Special extended work, when not approved under Article 53(4) of the Labor Standards Act, must be
authorized without delay, but post-application deadlines were set differently depending on approval
reasons and periods, causing confusion in the field.
Thus, post-application deadlines have been set to be the same irrespective of approval reasons and periods.
Director Yang, Jeong-Yeol of the Labor Inspection Policy Bureau said, “To reflect difficulties in the field,
special extended work operating measures will be rationalized.”
He revealed, “The Ministry will endeavor to reasonably improve the working time system while actively
gathering opinions from businesses and employees in the field.”
He also stressed, “To protect the right to health of workers doing special extended work, businesses must
take measures, including medical checkups and the provision of adequate rest time.”