As conflicts over after-work instructions via messengers such as KakaoTalk are growing in South Korea, China is reportedly preparing a plan to pay overtime for such “online overtime work.” Although the legislation is expected to take some time to prepare, the move to legislate itself is significant.
On the 11th, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Chinese authorities have started preparing legislation to enforce overtime payments for online overtime work.
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), a national labor union organization in China, suggested to the National People’s Congress (NPC), equivalent to the national assembly, to legislate compensation for the so-called “invisible overtime work” where people stay online on social networking services (SNS) such as WeChat after regular working hours. The ACFTU, a legal organization approved by the Chinese authorities with 1,713,000 subordinate labor unions nationwide, is classified as a quasi-governmental organization dependent on the Communist Party.
The ACFTU announced that the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) approved the online overtime compensation plan. This national advisory body closed the previous day. SCMP reported that Chinese judicial authorities have already set standards for online overtime work.
Chief Justice Zhang Jun of the Supreme People’s Court revealed that he submitted invisible overtime work standards to the NPC, such as responding to work-related messages on messenger apps like WeChat outside of work hours or handling work on smartphones, even on holidays. Chief Justice Zhang pointed out, “If considerable labor is put into a task that clearly consumes time, it can be considered overtime,” and “Compensation for online overtime work and the provision of offline rest should be guaranteed.”
SCMP reported that the discussion on online overtime compensation in China started with a lawsuit filed in 2020 to pay overtime for the time spent on WeChat delivering work messages during the vacation period after dismissal.
In the lawsuit at the time, Mr. Li won at the lower court, but the Supreme People’s Court ruled that it was difficult to calculate the online overtime work hours as they were scattered. China operates a two-trial system, not a three-trial system, so Mr. Li eventually lost the lawsuit.
Luo Wei, director of the Social Law Research Institute at China University of Political Science and Law, said that a law to regulate online overtime work and pay for labor is very likely to be enacted, but it will take considerable time for legislation to pass as it must go through discussions with related departments.
In South Korea, there are many cases where work instructions are given through KakaoTalk and other internal messengers after work, while some companies prohibit this, causing conflicts in many companies. Countries like France and Italy are increasing their legislation prohibiting contact after work.
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