韓國(guó)縮短法定工作時(shí)間 窮人卻活得更辛苦

韓國(guó)人素來(lái)有“加班文化”，為了提高生育率和生產(chǎn)效率，韓國(guó)上月初頒布新法案，將法定最長(zhǎng)工作時(shí)間從68小時(shí)縮短至52小時(shí)。結(jié)果，公務(wù)員們倒是開(kāi)心和輕松了，體力勞動(dòng)者和臨時(shí)工們卻叫苦連天。這是為什么呢?我們來(lái)看英國(guó)《衛(wèi)報(bào)》的報(bào)道。

Kim Jeong-cheol wakes up every morning at 6 am to deliver packages to Seoul’s wealthier residents, and spends every night ferrying those same people home after a night out, ending his working day well past midnight. He also works at a cosmetics distribution company he runs from his home with his wife.

金正哲每天早上6點(diǎn)起床給首爾市內(nèi)更富有的居民送包裹，每天夜里還要開(kāi)車送晚上外出的這些人回家，等到收工時(shí)已經(jīng)過(guò)了午夜了。他還和妻子在家合開(kāi)了一家化妝品分銷公司。

Kim is one of many in South Korea’s capital to have taken on extra jobs as part of the unintended consequence of a law aimed at capping working hours and giving people more free time.

金正哲不過(guò)是首爾干副業(yè)的眾多市民之一。此前韓國(guó)的新法案縮短了法定工作時(shí)間，本意是讓人們擁有更多自由時(shí)間，卻出現(xiàn)了這種意想不到的結(jié)果。

On 1 July South Korea cut the maximum weekly work hours to 52, down from 68. But the new regulation intended to combat long hours in Seoul’s steel and glass office towers has backfired for many doing manual or irregular labour, with people flocking to poorly regulated industries and facing pay cuts.

7月1日起，韓國(guó)將每周最長(zhǎng)工作時(shí)間由原來(lái)的68小時(shí)縮短至52小時(shí)。新規(guī)原本是為了解決首爾職員辦公時(shí)間過(guò)長(zhǎng)的問(wèn)題，然而許多體力勞動(dòng)者和臨時(shí)工卻反受其害。他們大量涌向監(jiān)管不力的產(chǎn)業(yè)，并面臨降薪。

Kim added his delivery job – for South Korea’s national post – after the new law meant more office workers went home early, reducing the number of driving jobs at night. Kim, who has three daughters to support through university, now works about 19 hours a day.

金正哲干起了國(guó)家郵政快遞的副業(yè)是因?yàn)樾路ò傅陌l(fā)布意味著更多白領(lǐng)下班時(shí)間提早，晚上開(kāi)出租車能拉到的客人也少了。金正哲有三個(gè)女兒在上大學(xué)，為了賺學(xué)費(fèi)，他每天要工作19個(gè)小時(shí)左右。

Kim, whose income dropped 40% after the law came in, is not alone. A woman who would give only her surname, Park, began working in a convenience store after she lost about 500,000 won ($445) a month due to the cap on working hours. A builder took a second job working as a type of unofficial bus service when hours were cut to comply with the law.

在新法案實(shí)施后，金正哲的收入下降了40%，他不是唯一一個(gè)因此而收入下降的人。一位只愿透露姓氏的樸女士在限制工作時(shí)間后每月收入損失了約50萬(wàn)韓元(3045元人民幣)，只好又在便利店打了一份工。一位建筑工人在依照法律縮短了工作時(shí)間后也干起了副業(yè)，給私人開(kāi)巴士。

The National Assembly estimated that 150,000 labourers would face an average pay cut of 410,000 won a month when the law was passed due to working less overtime. About a third of South Korea’s labour force works in jobs with irregular hours, such as construction, driving, cleaning or convenience store clerks, according to government statistics.

韓國(guó)國(guó)民大會(huì)估計(jì)，在法案通過(guò)后，因?yàn)榧影鄷r(shí)間縮短，15萬(wàn)工人平均每月收入將減少41萬(wàn)韓元。根據(jù)政府?dāng)?shù)據(jù)，韓國(guó)約三分之一的體力勞動(dòng)者，比如建筑工人、司機(jī)、清潔工和便利店店員，工作時(shí)間都不規(guī)律。

In the 1960s, the nation’s economy expanded rapidly, turning a country still reeling from the 1950-53 Korean war into the 12th largest economy in a generation. It has produced national champions like Samsung, Hyundai and LG, massive conglomerates that wield significant political influence, but that achievement has come at the expense of leisure time.

20世紀(jì)60年代，韓國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)快速擴(kuò)張，才經(jīng)歷了一代人，就將遭受朝鮮戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)(1950-1953)重創(chuàng)的韓國(guó)發(fā)展為世界第12大經(jīng)濟(jì)體。韓國(guó)誕生了三星、現(xiàn)代和LG等國(guó)家知名企業(yè)，這些大企業(yè)集團(tuán)發(fā)揮著重要的政治影響力，但是這一成就是用韓國(guó)人的空閑時(shí)間換來(lái)的。

South Korean workers have some of the longest working weeks among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, behind only Mexico. Last year the average person worked 2,024 hours, or about 38.9 hours a week.

在經(jīng)濟(jì)合作和發(fā)展組織成員國(guó)中，韓國(guó)的工人是每周工作時(shí)間最長(zhǎng)的，僅次于墨西哥人。去年韓國(guó)人平均工作了2024個(gè)小時(shí)，每周工作時(shí)間約為38.9個(gè)小時(shí)。

This gruelling work environment has been blamed for a host of societal problems, from a low birth rate to plummeting productivity. Chung Hyun-back, the family and gender equality minister, has called working hours “inhumanely long” and said they have contributed to the South Korea’s rapidly ageing society.

從低生育率到生產(chǎn)率下降，眾多社會(huì)問(wèn)題都被歸咎于韓國(guó)嚴(yán)苛的工作環(huán)境。韓國(guó)女性家族部部長(zhǎng)鄭鉉栢聲稱韓國(guó)工作時(shí)間“太長(zhǎng)，非常不人道”，并表示工作時(shí)間過(guò)長(zhǎng)導(dǎo)致了韓國(guó)社會(huì)的快速老齡化。

There is a strong case for tackling the culture of long hours. Working more than 50 hours a week causes a drop in productivity, according to researchers at Stanford University, and there was little different in output for employees who worked between 56 and 70 hours.

關(guān)于對(duì)抗韓國(guó)長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的工作文化，還有一條強(qiáng)有力的論據(jù)。斯坦福大學(xué)的研究人員稱，每周工作時(shí)間超過(guò)50個(gè)小時(shí)會(huì)導(dǎo)致生產(chǎn)效率下降，每周工作時(shí)間56個(gè)小時(shí)和70個(gè)小時(shí)的員工產(chǎn)出并沒(méi)有多少差別。

Despite hardships faced by workers paid by the hour, office workers have rejoiced at the new law. Some have long complained of a culture that expected employees to stay late despite a lack of work. Others say bosses would routinely assign extra tasks outside normal hours, leading many employees to procrastinate all day since they knew they had to stay late regardless of workload.

盡管小時(shí)工們面臨經(jīng)濟(jì)困境，辦公室職員們卻為新法案而感到欣喜。有些職員長(zhǎng)期抱怨韓國(guó)的工作文化，讓員工無(wú)事可干還不得不在辦公室留到很晚。其他一些職員則聲稱領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一般都會(huì)在正常工作時(shí)間之外給員工分派額外的任務(wù)，讓許多員工滯留在辦公室一整天，因?yàn)樗麄冎啦还芄ぷ髯鐾炅藳](méi)有，他們都得留到很晚。

But working-class people have largely mocked the new law for forcing them to take second or third jobs, saying: “Instead of a life with dinner, there’s a new life where you have to skip dinner.”

但是大多數(shù)工人們都會(huì)嘲諷新法案害他們不得不干副業(yè)，并聲稱：“過(guò)去的日子有飯吃，現(xiàn)在的日子沒(méi)飯吃。”

About 20,000 people have flocked to become on-demand chauffeurs since the new law passed, according to Kim Jong-yong, head of the Korean Association of Relief Drivers. Companies have lowered fares amid the influx of new workers.

韓國(guó)救援駕駛員協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)長(zhǎng)金鐘龍說(shuō)，自從新法案通過(guò)后，約有2萬(wàn)人去做了約車司機(jī)。由于新員工大量涌入，公司紛紛降低了出車費(fèi)。

"The 52-hour law was meant to benefit all workers, however it’s only positively affecting people working in stable, high-paying jobs such as civil servants and people working in corporate companies,” he said. “Taking a second job is the only thing keeping these people off the streets, it’s a last resort.

金鐘龍說(shuō)：“52小時(shí)工作制本意是為了造福所有員工，然而卻只造福了那些在穩(wěn)定高薪崗位上工作的人，比如公務(wù)員，還有那些在大企業(yè)工作的人。對(duì)于底層民眾而言，干副業(yè)是唯一不讓自己流落街頭的選擇。”

"Their struggles are a reflection of how Korean society treats and values working-class people.”

“他們的掙扎反映了韓國(guó)社會(huì)是如何對(duì)待和看待工人的。”