Investigation of the status of rest facilities at industrial sites and awareness of relevant laws and regulations of South Korea

TL;DR

This study examines rest facility availability and legal awareness in South Korean industries, finding younger workers and small businesses less compliant.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into rest facility compliance and legal awareness disparities among different demographic and business groups in South Korea.

Findings

Younger workers reported lower satisfaction with rest facilities.

Managers had higher legal awareness than workers.

Smaller service industry businesses were less likely to have rest facilities and lacked legal awareness.

Abstract

South Korea has faced many social issues due to long working hours, lack of rest areas, and poor rest facility environments for cleaners, security guards, department store workers, etc. Discussions have been ongoing about mandating the installation of rest facilities. From August 18, 2022, Article 128–2 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, concerning the installation of rest facilities, was enforced. Consequently, employers in all industries are required to install rest facilities, and laws have been established to ensure these facilities meet certain standards. Accordingly, this study investigated the current status of rest facility installations and the awareness of the law’s enactment in Korean industrial sites. The results, analyzed by gender, age, managerial status, industry, and size of the business, indicated that younger people were less satisfied with the rest facilities. Managers were more knowledgeable about the legal regulations than workers. In the service industry, compared to other industries, smaller businesses were less likely to have rest facilities and were less aware of the legal regulations. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data to help establish the rest facility installation laws in Korea.

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