SPC Group to shorten night shifts after another workplace death, pressure from President Lee
Published: 27 Jul. 2025, 16:43
![President Lee Jae Myung speaks during an on-site labor-management meeting on preventing industrial accidents at the SPC Samlip Siwha plant in Siheung, Gyeonggi, on July 25. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/07/27/f03dbf17-fddb-479d-a88d-e3ae1b7b3aa0.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during an on-site labor-management meeting on preventing industrial accidents at the SPC Samlip Siwha plant in Siheung, Gyeonggi, on July 25. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
SPC Group will limit night shifts to eight hours starting in October, responding to a worker’s death and growing pressure over long working hours from President Lee Jae Myung.
The major Korean food and bakery conglomerate made the decision during a meeting of its executive body, the SPC Committee, on Sunday.
“We take seriously the concerns raised about night work and labor intensity during a recent on-site meeting at the Siwha plant,” SPC said in a statement. “We will overhaul the entire production system, including work shifts.”
A company representative said that SPC will expand its work force, adjust output and products and restructure its production lines to eliminate overtime work beyond eight hours.
Starting in October, SPC’s affiliates — including Paris Baguette, Paris Croissant, Shany and Samlip — will implement the new plan across their facilities.
Current labor law allows up to four hours of extended work per day, capped at 12 hours per week.
SPC’s new policy would exclude such extensions during night shifts. The company added that it will gradually reduce night work further in cooperation with labor unions.
The announcement follows a labor roundtable held on Friday at SPC Samlip’s Siwha plant in Siheung, Gyeonggi, where President Lee directly criticized long working hours in relation to a fatal accident in May involving a worker in their 50s who died during an early-morning shift.
“It is a serious issue when the same accidents happen in the same way at the same sites,” Lee said. “This incident appears to have resulted from work extending into the night.”
He also questioned the plant’s three-team, two-shift system, where workers take one day off after two consecutive 12-hour shifts, one during the day and one at night.
“Working 12 hours for four days a week seems excessive, especially at night when workers are more fatigued,” Lee said.
SPC said that it would "gradually scale back night operations to only essential products and reduce plant operating hours."
“We also plan to reduce daytime hours in stages to prevent fatigue, lapses in concentration and workplace accidents from long shifts,” an SPC spokesperson said. "The company is also committed to working with unions to minimize confusion by updating training programs and manuals."
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HWANG SOO-YEON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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