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🇰🇷 South Korea /Health & Science

South Korea's 'Unusually Healthy' Workers: The Reality Behind Low Sick Days

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • South Korea's sick leave days are significantly lower than other OECD countries, raising questions about worker health and the effectiveness of current support systems.
  • While official statistics show few sick days, workers often come to work ill due to a lack of paid sick leave, potentially delaying treatment and reducing productivity.
  • The government's sick pay benefit pilot program aims to address these issues by providing income support for ill workers and encouraging timely treatment to maintain long-term labor force participation.

South Korea appears to have an unusually healthy workforce, with significantly fewer sick days taken compared to other member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). While the OECD average for sick leave is around 13 days annually, with Norway leading at 28 days, a 2023 study suggests South Korea's figure is as low as 1.2 days per year. This statistic, if accurate, implies South Korean workers are exceptionally resilient, continuing to work even when unwell.

This statistic alone suggests that Korean workers are diligently working without taking days off, even when sick, with the strength of iron.

— Kim In-ahProfessor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Hanyang University, commenting on the low number of sick days in South Korea.

However, this low number of sick days does not reflect superior health. Instead, it highlights a critical gap in social safety nets. Many South Korean workplaces offer limited or no paid sick leave. Employees often exhaust their annual leave days for illness or, in smaller companies, may not even have that option, relying on the employer's goodwill. Data indicates only about 38% of workers have access to any form of paid or unpaid sick leave. This forces ill workers to choose between their health and their livelihood, as missed work directly impacts their ability to pay rent and bills.

Ill workers face a crisis in terms of both employment maintenance and income maintenance.

— Kim In-ahProfessor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Hanyang University, explaining the difficulties faced by sick workers in South Korea.

The consequence is a cycle where workers delay treatment, exacerbating their conditions and leading to decreased productivity. The government's pilot program for sick pay benefits aims to break this cycle. By providing a portion of lost income, the program intends to enable workers to seek timely medical care and return to work healthier and sooner. This approach aligns with international practices where sick pay schemes are viewed as active labor market policies that promote early treatment and facilitate a quicker return to employment, ultimately supporting an aging population by keeping experienced workers in the labor force longer.

The sick pay benefit system currently being piloted by the government is a system to ensure a certain level of income for sick workers, while also serving as a system to support workers so that they can work for a long time in a healthy state without delaying treatment in preparation for population aging.

— Kim In-ahProfessor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Hanyang University, describing the dual purpose of the sick pay benefit program.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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