Survey of 1,000 workers finds 30.7% not receiving overtime pay premiums

Of those, 38.4% cite lump-sum wage system as the reason

Workers call for pay based on actual hours worked and measures to curb abuse

An image illustrating unpaid overtime [Created using ChatGPT]
An image illustrating unpaid overtime [Created using ChatGPT]

Seven in 10 workers believe the lump-sum wage system should be banned, a new survey shows. More than 30 percent of respondents said they do not receive any overtime, holiday or night-shift pay premiums, with the lump-sum wage system cited as the leading reason — fueling calls to end what workers describe as "free overtime."

According to workplace harassment advocacy group Jikjang Gapjil 119, a survey conducted by polling firm Global Research from Sept. 1 to 7 found that 71.1 percent of 1,000 full-time workers aged 19 and older nationwide said the lump-sum wage system should be prohibited. Only 28.3 percent said they agreed with the system.

Under the lump-sum wage system, legally mandated allowances such as overtime pay are either folded into the base salary or set as a fixed flat-rate allowance, regardless of actual hours worked. Labor groups have long raised concerns about abuse, warning that workers often put in hours beyond a preset threshold without receiving additional compensation.

In the survey, 44.9 percent of respondents said their current employer pays all overtime, holiday and night-shift premiums in full. Some 30.7 percent said none of those premiums are paid.

Among the 307 respondents who said they do not receive the premiums, 38.4 percent attributed it to the lump-sum wage system. Another 20.2 percent said non-payment was simply standard practice at their workplace, while 19.9 percent said premiums are paid but subject to a cap.

When those same 307 respondents were asked whether they receive additional pay when they work beyond the overtime hours set under the lump-sum arrangement, 69.1 percent said they do not. Only 8.5 percent said they receive extra compensation.

Among the same group, 38.8 percent said they sometimes work longer than the preset overtime hours — 10.5 percentage points higher than the 28.3 percent who said they work only up to the allotted hours.

Jikjang Gapjil 119 said that even under a lump-sum wage arrangement, employers are legally required to pay additional allowances for any hours worked beyond the agreed overtime threshold. The group said a significant number of workplaces are nonetheless requiring extra work without properly compensating employees.

Park Eun-ha, a labor attorney at Jikjang Gapjil 119, said the findings show that the lump-sum wage system is blocking fair compensation for overtime and driving "free overtime." Park called for the system to be banned and said the law should "clearly establish a legal basis for calculating and paying wages according to actual hours worked" to fundamentally prevent abuse.


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