New measure comes as heat-related illnesses in the country increase
The South Korean government has mandated employers to give their workers a break when apparent temperatures surpass 33 degrees Celsius, according to reports.
The measure, passed by the Regulatory Reform Committee last week, is the government's latest step to protect employees from scorching heat that led to over a thousand cases of heat-related illnesses.
Under the measure, employers are required to provide outdoor workers with at least 20 minutes of rest when apparent temperatures exceed 33 degrees Celsius, The Korea Herald reported.
The new rule comes after the country reported a total of 1,228 cases of heat-related illnesses between May 15 and July 8, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
There were also eight deaths suspected to be related to the heat, The Korea Times reported, citing the agency.
The rest time regulation has been pushed in South Korea since last year, but previous attempts were blocked amid concerns about the rule's burden on small businesses, according to The Korea Herald.
Ensuring a 20-minute break every two hours is a basic measure of survival, but some employers fail to provide them even in high temperatures, according to the Jeju branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
"These amount to neglect and dereliction of duty by the state," it said as quoted by The Korea Times.
Protection against heatwave
South Korean law holds employers with five or more regular employees criminally liable for heat-related fatalities of workers.
The government in June also operated a three-week autonomous improvement period for 60,000 high-risk workplaces, providing heat illness prevention guidelines and self-checklists based on basic heatwave safety rules.
South Korea's national temperature in early July has exceeded national levels, according to the country's meteorological agency.
Its national average temperature for the first 10 days hit 28.2 degrees Celsius, the highest ever recorded for that period since observations began in 1973, The Korea Bizwire reported.
Its latest measures come amid growing calls for employers to protect their staff from the scorching heat.
Gilbert Houngbo, director-general of the International Labour Organization, said last year that workers should be protected year-round amid rising global temperatures.
"Excessive heat is creating unprecedented challenges for workers worldwide year-round, and not only during periods of intense heatwaves," Houngbo previously said in a statement.
Various governments, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, have also implemented measures to protect their workers from excessive heat.
