Workers in big companies who got their first paycheck this month since their working week was shortened to a maximum of 52 hours are reeling from the shock.

Most knew that overtime pay would be cut now that they no longer work the longest hours in the world, but not all realized quite by how much. Many posted complaints on the Cheong Wa Dae website and elsewhere online.

In a straw poll by job search portal Incruit of 557 salaried workers, 18.1 percent said the biggest change of the shorter working week was a drop in pay.

One 43-year-old staffer at a machine parts manufacturer in Gyeonggi Province saw his monthly pay drop about 18 percent from W3.83 million in June to W3.17 million last month (US$1=W1,134). His base pay of course remains unchanged at around W2.1 million, but overtime pay nearly halved from W1.55 million to W810,000.

One woman wrote on a web chat board for housewives in the steel city of Pohang, "I wept when I saw my husband's July paycheck. He used to earn W3 million a month working Saturdays and every other Sunday, but now he only earns W2 million."

"After paying W600,000 a month to repay our debts and cover our credit card bills, we are left with nothing," she added. "How can we possibly enjoy our evenings when we have no money to spend?"

The aim of the reduction in working hours was to prevent employees from working themselves to the bone like the woman's husband, but some have clearly jumped from the frying pan into the fire.