A rule requiring a 20-minute break every two hours when the perceived temperature reaches 33 degrees Celsius or higher has entered its second year. Government inspections found only four worksites in violation, and not a single worker filed a report. The numbers suggest the rule has taken hold. Some argue, however, that the figures are an illusion created by conditions on the ground that make reporting nearly impossible. The rule applies not only to outdoor construction sites but equally to indoor workplaces such as logistics warehouses and factories. Because such vulnerable worksites employ many short-term and subcontracted workers, the analysis is that workers likely refrained from reporting out of fear of retaliation.
According to data submitted to Rep. Lee Yong-woo of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, the Ministry of Employment and Labor inspected 1,197 worksites vulnerable to extreme heat this summer, from June 15 to Aug. 31, and found 1,735 legal violations at 573 of them. Of those, only four involved breaches of the 20-minute break rule. No worker reports have been filed since the rule took effect.
Survey figures on compliance are also high. The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency surveyed 2,003 worksites late last year and found that 93% of respondents said they observed the break requirement. Some 43% provided a 20-minute break every two hours, while 23% split breaks into 10 minutes every hour. Another 24% gave more rest than the standard requires.
Deaths from heat-related illness recognized as industrial accidents, based on the date of the incident, have also fallen. The toll dropped from six in each of 2024 and 2025 to three as of the end of August this year. A labor ministry official said awareness that rest is necessary during extreme heat is taking root at worksites, adding that more outdoor sites, including construction, have shifted schedules to start work as early as 5 a.m.
Assessments from the field differ. Indoor workplaces such as logistics warehouses, cafeteria kitchens and manufacturing plants find it difficult to change shift hours because of operating schedules or delivery deadlines. For short-term or subcontracted workers in insecure jobs, demanding breaks from a prime contractor or an employer, or filing a report, is effectively impossible. Approved industrial accident claims for heat-related illness have in fact risen every year, from 19 in 2021 to 31 in 2023 and 77 in 2025. Through July this year, 20 claims had already been approved, including five deaths. Heat-related illness continues to occur not only in construction but across indoor and outdoor sectors including manufacturing and transportation and warehousing.
Setting a uniform time standard while leaving out the work environment and physical intensity is also cited as an area needing improvement. Welding in shipbuilding, where workers handle flames in heavy protective gear, and work in confined spaces involve perceived temperatures far higher than at ordinary worksites. A labor official said logistics warehouses and welding sites are more exposed to the risk of heat-related illness than ordinary outdoor work, adding that the rules should go beyond a simple time requirement and set standards allowing more rest based on the intensity and environment of the work.
