Employers in financial services, retail, restaurants and a dozen other industries will likely be banned from having their staff work in excess of the 52-hours-a-week limit, according to a decision Tuesday by a tripartite panel of workers, employers and the government.

The Korea Tripartite Commission reached an agreement to scale back exemptions from the statutory limit on weekly hours currently in effect for 26 industries to 10.

The 16 sectors to be stripped of exemption include saunas, hair and personal care services; cleaning and pest control services; restaurants and bars; hotels and other accommodations; market research and public opinion polling services; research and development; financial services, retail trade; sales of motor vehicles and parts, as well as storage and warehousing.

Under the proposed change, the number of workers exempt from the legal labor hour limit will fall from about 4 million to 1.4 million.

“Broad exemptions to the work hour rules have been cited as one of the key reasons why Korean workers continued to spend long hours at work,” the panel said in a press statement.

The Labor Ministry said it will push to submit to the parliament a proposal in June to have related laws amended.

In 2004, Korea introduced a 40-hour workweek rule and limited overtime work to 12 hours per week. Still the country has the longest average working hours among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The tripartite panel in 2010 resolved to bring down annual hours to below 1,900 by 2020, but the average working time went up, not down, for the past three years. It stood at 2,111 hours in 2010.

Tuesday’s decision is in step with the government’s drive to end long working hours to improve workers’ quality of life and create jobs.

The labor ministry is pushing to revise laws to include hours spent working during weekends or holidays in calculation of the 12-hour overtime limit.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)