Civil Servants to Trial ‘4.5-Day Workweek’ in Seodaemun District Starting October

Redesigning Work Hours While Maintaining a 40-Hour Workweek

Seodaemun District in Seoul (headed by District Mayor Park Unki) announced on September 29 that it will begin a trial run of a “4.5-day workweek” using flexible work schedules that allow employees to choose their working hours, starting in October. The focus is not on reducing the legally mandated working hours, but rather on changing the work culture so that employees can actually use the existing system.

View of Seodaemun District Office Building. Provided by Seodaemun District Office.

Until now, there have not been many users of the flexible work schedule program in Seodaemun District. The number of employees who used the system at least once a year was 36 in 2024, 37 last year, and 37 as of September this year. With approximately 1,500 total employees, the usage rate is around 2.5%, indicating that the number of users has virtually remained unchanged over the last three years.

The “4.5-day workweek” rearranges work hours while maintaining a 40-hour workweek. On certain days between Monday and Friday, employees can increase their working time by up to four hours in exchange for reducing the same amount on another day. For example, one could work an extra hour each day from Monday to Thursday, or work four additional hours on Thursday, and then work only four hours (from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) on Friday.

Daily working hours can be adjusted in 10-minute increments, ranging from four to twelve hours. However, the district has designated joint working hours from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to ensure there are no gaps in public service or interdepartmental cooperation.

All departments and neighborhood community centers will participate in the pilot program, starting October 1. Each department and center must designate at least one person as a pilot participant, who must use the system at least once a month, and any other employee who wishes to participate may submit an application by the day before.

The district will decide on department- and center-based participants by September 30 and will operate the pilot from October through June of next year. Based on the results, it plans to expand the system in July of next year. It will keep monthly tallies on the number of users and frequency, comparing them against past records, and conduct an employee satisfaction survey in the second half of next year. If areas for improvement in the current system are identified, the district will recommend amendments to the Central Government, such as revisions to the “Local Public Officials Service Regulations.”

District Mayor Park Unki said, “If a system goes unused because employees feel self-conscious, it cannot be called a good system,” adding, “Ensuring work-life balance for employees is the starting point of a healthy organizational culture.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.