韓國縮短法定工作時間 窮人卻活得更辛苦

Kim Jeong-cheol wakes up every morning at 6 am to deliver packages to Seoul’s wealthier residents, and spends every night ferrying those same people home after a night out, ending his working day well past midnight. He also works at a cosmetics distribution company he runs from his home with his wife.

金正哲每天早上6點起牀給首爾市內更富有的居民送包裹，每天夜裏還要開車送晚上外出的這些人回家，等到收工時已經過了午夜了。他還和妻子在家合開了一家化妝品分銷公司。

Kim is one of many in South Korea’s capital to have taken on extra jobs as part of the unintended consequence of a law aimed at capping working hours and giving people more free time.

金正哲不過是首爾幹副業的衆多市民之一。此前韓國的新法案縮短了法定工作時間，本意是讓人們擁有更多自由時間，卻出現了這種意想不到的結果。

On 1 July South Korea cut the maximum weekly work hours to 52, down from 68. But the new regulation intended to combat long hours in Seoul’s steel and glass office towers has backfired for many doing manual or irregular labour, with people flocking to poorly regulated industries and facing pay cuts.

7月1日起，韓國將每週最長工作時間由原來的68小時縮短至52小時。新規原本是爲了解決首爾職員辦公時間過長的問題，然而許多體力勞動者和臨時工卻反受其害。他們大量涌向監管不力的產業，並面臨降薪。

Kim added his delivery job – for South Korea’s national post – after the new law meant more office workers went home early, reducing the number of driving jobs at night. Kim, who has three daughters to support through university, now works about 19 hours a day.

金正哲幹起了國家郵政快遞的副業是因爲新法案的發佈意味着更多白領下班時間提早，晚上開出租車能拉到的客人也少了。金正哲有三個女兒在上大學，爲了賺學費，他每天要工作19個小時左右。

Kim, whose income dropped 40% after the law came in, is not alone. A woman who would give only her surname, Park, began working in a convenience store after she lost about 500,000 won ($445) a month due to the cap on working hours. A builder took a second job working as a type of unofficial bus service when hours were cut to comply with the law.

在新法案實施後，金正哲的收入下降了40%，他不是唯一一個因此而收入下降的人。一位只願透露姓氏的樸女士在限制工作時間後每月收入損失了約50萬韓元（3045元人民幣），只好又在便利店打了一份工。一位建築工人在依照法律縮短了工作時間後也幹起了副業，給私人開巴士。

The National Assembly estimated that 150,000 labourers would face an average pay cut of 410,000 won a month when the law was passed due to working less overtime. About a third of South Korea’s labour force works in jobs with irregular hours, such as construction, driving, cleaning or convenience store clerks, according to government statistics.

韓國國民大會估計，在法案通過後，因爲加班時間縮短，15萬工人平均每月收入將減少41萬韓元。根據政府數據，韓國約三分之一的體力勞動者，比如建築工人、司機、清潔工和便利店店員，工作時間都不規律。

In the 1960s, the nation’s economy expanded rapidly, turning a country still reeling from the 1950-53 Korean war into the 12th largest economy in a generation. It has produced national champions like Samsung, Hyundai and LG, massive conglomerates that wield significant political influence, but that achievement has come at the expense of leisure time.

20世紀60年代，韓國經濟快速擴張，才經歷了一代人，就將遭受朝鮮戰爭（1950-1953）重創的韓國發展爲世界第12大經濟體。韓國誕生了三星、現代和LG等國家知名企業，這些大企業集團發揮着重要的政治影響力，但是這一成就是用韓國人的空閒時間換來的。

South Korean workers have some of the longest working weeks among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, behind only Mexico. Last year the average person worked 2,024 hours, or about 38.9 hours a week.

在經濟合作和發展組織成員國中，韓國的工人是每週工作時間最長的，僅次於墨西哥人。去年韓國人平均工作了2024個小時，每週工作時間約爲38.9個小時。

This gruelling work environment has been blamed for a host of societal problems, from a low birth rate to plummeting productivity. Chung Hyun-back, the family and gender equality minister, has called working hours “inhumanely long” and said they have contributed to the South Korea’s rapidly ageing society.

從低生育率到生產率下降，衆多社會問題都被歸咎於韓國嚴苛的工作環境。韓國女性家族部部長鄭鉉栢聲稱韓國工作時間“太長，非常不人道”，並表示工作時間過長導致了韓國社會的快速老齡化。

There is a strong case for tackling the culture of long hours. Working more than 50 hours a week causes a drop in productivity, according to researchers at Stanford University, and there was little different in output for employees who worked between 56 and 70 hours.

關於對抗韓國長時間的工作文化，還有一條強有力的論據。斯坦福大學的研究人員稱，每週工作時間超過50個小時會導致生產效率下降，每週工作時間56個小時和70個小時的員工產出並沒有多少差別。

Despite hardships faced by workers paid by the hour, office workers have rejoiced at the new law. Some have long complained of a culture that expected employees to stay late despite a lack of work. Others say bosses would routinely assign extra tasks outside normal hours, leading many employees to procrastinate all day since they knew they had to stay late regardless of workload.

儘管小時工們面臨經濟困境，辦公室職員們卻爲新法案而感到欣喜。有些職員長期抱怨韓國的工作文化，讓員工無事可幹還不得不在辦公室留到很晚。其他一些職員則聲稱領導一般都會在正常工作時間之外給員工分派額外的任務，讓許多員工滯留在辦公室一整天，因爲他們知道不管工作做完了沒有，他們都得留到很晚。

But working-class people have largely mocked the new law for forcing them to take second or third jobs, saying: “Instead of a life with dinner, there’s a new life where you have to skip dinner.”

但是大多數工人們都會嘲諷新法案害他們不得不幹副業，並聲稱：“過去的日子有飯吃，現在的日子沒飯吃。”

About 20,000 people have flocked to become on-demand chauffeurs since the new law passed, according to Kim Jong-yong, head of the Korean Association of Relief Drivers. Companies have lowered fares amid the influx of new workers.

韓國救援駕駛員協會會長金鐘龍說，自從新法案通過後，約有2萬人去做了約車司機。由於新員工大量涌入，公司紛紛降低了出車費。

"The 52-hour law was meant to benefit all workers, however it’s only positively affecting people working in stable, high-paying jobs such as civil servants and people working in corporate companies,” he said. “Taking a second job is the only thing keeping these people off the streets, it’s a last resort.

金鐘龍說：“52小時工作制本意是爲了造福所有員工，然而卻只造福了那些在穩定高薪崗位上工作的人，比如公務員，還有那些在大企業工作的人。對於底層民衆而言，幹副業是唯一不讓自己流落街頭的選擇。”

"Their struggles are a reflection of how Korean society treats and values working-class people.”

“他們的掙扎反映了韓國社會是如何對待和看待工人的。”