Overworked staff 'forced' to shut computers in South Korea

The government in the South Korean capital is introducing a new initiative to "force" its employees to leave work on time -- by shutting down all their computers at 8 p.m. on Fridays.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), it was trying to stop a "culture of working overtime" as the country has some of the longest working hours in the world, the BBC reported.

The "shutdown initiative" will be rolled out across three phases over the next three months. Government employees in Seoul work at an average of 2,739 hours a year -- about 1,000 hours more than workers in other developed countries.

The programme will begin on March 30, with all computers switched off by 8 p.m. The second phase will begin in April, with employees having their computers turned off by 7.30 p.m. on the second and fourth Friday that month.

From May onwards, the programme will be in full-swing, with computers shut off by 7 p.m. every Friday.

According to a statement by the government, all employees will be subjected to the shutdown, though there will be exemptions in special circumstances.

However, not every government worker seems to be on-board. According to the SMG, 67.1 per cent of government workers asked to be exempt from the forced lights-out.

Earlier in March, South Korea's National Assembly passed a law to cut down the maximum weekly working hours to 52, down from 68.

--IANS

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