Government offices will have lounges with beds along with exercise facilities, a move aimed at improving the health and preventing possible death from overwork among public servants.South Koreans work some of the longest hours in the world, and South Korea was ranked by Forbes as the hardest-working country in the world. Long hours, yes, the longest working country in the world perhaps, but efficiency and productivity are another matter. They're loaded words, of course, but I think we all have stories of employees required to work long shifts with nothing else to do than shop online or nap.
Lounges called ``Refresh Zones'' will be set up on every two or three floors of each government building, according to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, Monday.
The zones will have beds so that civil servants working overtime, on weekends or holidays can sleep and refresh themselves.
The ministry will also have all government buildings equipped with workout facilities and medical offices, along with exercise experts, by June. Three government complexes in Seoul, Gwacheon and Daejeon are already equipped with such facilities, but 17 other government buildings outside of the complexes are not.
Perhaps a solution to overwork would be to not require employees to put in so much face-time, to work so much overtime, or on weekends, or on holidays. I've been away from home for a while, so I don't know if it's considered acceptable to nap during work hours, but as far as school is concerned it's commonplace to sleep at your desk for a half-hour here or there, or retreat to one of the faculty rooms---with beds for women and ashtrays for men---during free periods.
Some figures from the rest of the KT article:
``We've come up with the measures, as 42.2 percent of the deaths of public workers since 2004, or 301 out of 714, were deaths from overwork,'' a ministry official said.
The attention to health has been raised since Ahn Chul-shik, former vice minister of knowledge and economy, died in January, nine days after being appointed to the post, presumably because of exhaustion.
In a health checkup on 800 civil workers at the Central Government Complex last September, 51.3 percent were obese, 34.4 percent had trouble with blood pressure, 5.8 percent had hyperlipidemia and 4.7 percent were diabetic.
1 comment:
One of the things that drives me nutters at school is that my coworkers sleep all afternoon, and then around 4-5, when they're packing up, they complain about all the grading, etc, they will have to do at home. I want to smack them upside the head and say "Maybe if you worked at work and slept at home, you wouldn't have to work at home and sleep at work!"
Post a Comment