The parliamentary labor committee has passed a bill to reduce the maximum weekly working hours from 68 to 52 hours.

The National Assembly Committee on Environment and Labor held a plenary session and approved the revision to the Labor Standards Act early on Tuesday immediately after its subcommittee on labor agreed on the cut.

The bill, which included Saturdays and Sundays in the definition of working days, will be applied in phases depending on the size of the company.

The revision calls for reduced workweeks to be put in practice for companies and public offices with more than 300 workers in July, firms with 50 to 299 employees in January 2020 and those with five to 49 employees in July 2021.

Regulations on payment for holiday work remain unchanged, with an employee working less than eight hours on a holiday entitled to payment of 150 percent of nominal wage. An employee working more than eight hours on a holiday is entitled to payment of 200 percent of nominal wage. 

The revised bill is expected to bring about positive changes to society, including triggering new employment in a bid to make up for the reduced working hours. 

The bill is also likely to enable South Korea to shed the stigma of having the longest working hours among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

However, reduced working hours also means more costs for businesses. 

The Korea Economic Research Institute estimates that businesses would have to pay around 12 trillion won in additional costs yearly to maintain the current level of production after working hours are reduced to 52 hours per week.