Issue Focus

● South Korea cut its maximum legal working hours per week to 52, down from 68. The revised law was applied, from July 2018, first at work sites with 300 employees or more. ● In the construction industry, the implementation of 52-hour workweek regime is expected to impact on construction budget and schedule negatively. However, there is not enough supplementary actions prepared from the government to minimize negative impacts in the construction industry, especially construction projects contracted prior to the execution of the revised regulation. ● This research investigates the impacts of 52-hour workweek regime on the construction schedule with 109 actual construction projects contracted before the revised law implemented. Findings show that 48 projects(44.0%) out of 109 will be behind the completion date due to the work hour reduction. ● In order to settle down 52-hour workweek regime in the construction industry, 1) the revised regulation should be applied to construction projects contracted after the new system kicked off; 2) reasonable construction budget and time should be reflected in new construction projects considering 52-hour workweek regime; 3) the flexible work-hour system should be expanded for efficient construction management.