The impact on workers’ health and life following changes in mandatory store holidays (2024)

Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health and Korean Federation of Service Workers’ Union

Translated by Hye-Eun Lee

Even if total working hours are the same, having weekends off versus not having them off has a significant impact on workers’ health and lives. Numerous studies have already shown that weekend work negatively affects mental health and workplace incidents while taking weekends off provides higher recovery benefits from rest compared to taking days off during the week. However, in 2023, Daegu City and Cheongju City changed mandatory weekend closures to weekdays. Despite the opposition of market workers, their voices were not reflected in the policy-making process, and the consequences of the policy change were entirely borne by workers.

To assess the impact of this change on workers’ lives and health, the first survey was conducted in April when the mandatory rest day change was announced in Cheongju City, and the second survey was conducted in late August, three months after the change took effect. For comparison, surveys were also conducted simultaneously in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Although the number of respondents who answered both surveys was insufficient to conduct statistical analysis, we were able to explore the changes that emerged in Cheongju following the mandatory rest day change.

A strength of this study is that the same participants responded to both surveys in three regions: Seoul, where the mandatory rest day remained on Sunday; Gyeonggi Province, where it remained on weekdays; and Cheongju, where it changed from Sunday to a weekday. This consistency allows for a less biased examination of the effects of the change.

The survey results showed that the number of weekend workdays increased in Cheongju, and the work-life balance dissatisfaction score rose significantly compared to before the mandatory holiday change. While outcomes such as insomnia or depression did not worsen, dissatisfaction with working hours and subjective health status deteriorated. In all questions related to work-life balance, a clear deterioration trend was observed in Gyeonggi and Cheongju compared to Seoul. This was reflected in a significant decline in recovery scores for job stress, consistent with previous studies indicating that failing to rest on weekends impairs recovery from job stress. Respondents in the Cheongju region reported increased physical and mental fatigue, as well as reduced time for leisure, family life, and social activities following the mandatory rest day changes. In interviews, respondents expressed the greatest disappointment over the reduced time available for spending weekends with family and enjoying social holidays. Additionally, dissatisfaction and anger toward companies and local governments for the failure to consider the opinions of market workers during the mandatory rest day change process were noticed. There was also evidence of increased intentions to quit or actual resignations following the changes.

Given the high risk of negative health impact in the future, it is necessary to conduct a large-scale survey involving the company, local governments, and labor unions. Given its detrimental effects on the health of workers – the main stakeholders – the ongoing expansion of mandatory rest day changes to weekdays must be discontinued.