![Yang Gyeong-su, chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, speaks at the 2026 World Labor Day rally held in front of the Dongwha duty-free store in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on May 1. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/24/rcv.YNA.20260501.PYH2026050108140001300_P1.jpg)
Legislation is being pursued to prohibit employers from substituting May 1, Labor Day, with another working day.
The move comes after the Ministry of Employment and Labor reversed its previous position following Labor Day's designation as a public holiday, allowing holiday substitution through labor-management agreement — a change critics say could leave workers clocking in on May 1 and taking a different day off instead.
According to the National Assembly on Monday, Rep. Park Hong-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea introduced a bill to amend the Act on the Establishment of Labor Day that would bar any substitution of the holiday with another working day. The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Min Byeong-deok, Yun Jun-byeong, Kim Yun, Lee Jeong-heon, Park Jeong-hyeon, Kim Tae-nyeon, Lee Yeon-hui, Seo Mi-hwa, Lee Gwang-hui and Yeom Tae-yeong.
Labor Day was first codified in 1963 through the Act on the Establishment of Workers' Day.
A comprehensive revision of the law last November changed the holiday's name from "Workers' Day" to "Labor Day," and an amendment to the Act on Public Holidays in April designated it as an official public holiday. The intent was to allow all working people — including civil servants, who had previously been excluded from the holiday's coverage — to mark the value of labor together on the same day.
The controversy erupted after the Ministry of Employment and Labor changed its administrative interpretation on holiday substitution following Labor Day's designation as a public holiday.
In May, the ministry issued guidelines on applying the Labor Standards Act to Labor Day, ruling that workplaces with five or more full-time employees could substitute Labor Day with another working day if management and a workers' representative reached a written agreement. Under such an arrangement, May 1 becomes a regular working day and a separately designated date becomes the paid holiday.
This marked a departure from the ministry's previous interpretation, under which Labor Day could not be substituted with another working day before it became a public holiday. As a result, despite the holiday's designation to ensure all workers celebrate Labor Day on the same date, some employees at certain workplaces could now be required to work on May 1 and take a different day off.
The bill introduced by Park aims to close off that possibility entirely.
Current law designates May 1 as Labor Day and a paid holiday under the Labor Standards Act. The bill would add a clause specifying that, notwithstanding the proviso of Article 55, Paragraph 2 of the Labor Standards Act, Labor Day may not be substituted with any specific working day. If passed, swapping May 1 for another working day would be prohibited even with the consent of both labor and management.
However, the bill is separate from the substitution of public holidays under the Act on Public Holidays, which applies when Labor Day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or another public holiday. The amendment focuses specifically on banning the labor-management practice of replacing Labor Day with a different working day through mutual agreement.
"Labor Day is not an ordinary holiday whose date can be shifted to suit an employer's needs — it is a special day on which we collectively honor the value and dignity of labor and the rights of workers," Park said. "It runs counter to the legislative intent to designate Labor Day as a public holiday so that all working people, including civil servants, can mark it together, and then allow only workers to take a different day off."
fact0514@heraldcorp.com
