‘Non-regular worker’ is not a legal term. It is a concept created by labor to identify those with lower levels of employment protection than regular workers. The “regular” and “non-regular” designation refers to the type of employment that a worker is engaged in. However labor uses the term “non-regular worker” to refer all workers without high levels of employment protection. To settle these interpretational differences, the Tripartite Commission classified “non-regular worker” into 3 types in 2007: contingent worker, part-time worker and atypical worker. Therefore, instead of using the word non-regular worker, enterprises are advised to use the legal terms of part-time worker, fixed-term worker, dispatched worker, etc. However, in this article, the term ‘non-regular worker’ is used to identify all these types together.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) inspected 30 workplaces in August 2012. The ministry found 39 cases of discrimination in 15 workplaces which did not pay bonuses, incentives, or other allowances and ordered corrective action.
In line with the government’s policy to protect non-regular workers, the MOEL extended the scope of workers who a non-regular worker can be compared with, and made the criteria stricter when determining justifiable reasons for disadvantageous treatment. In one example, “H Capital” reorganized its occupational groups into regular worker groups and non-regular worker groups to prevent from discrimination. The company created 8 duty groups for regular workers, and used non-regular workers to handle the tasks not covered by regular workers. However, the MOEL found that H Capital did not pay bonuses to its non-regular workers, and determined this as unfair discrimination since the tasks covered by the management support group, one of the 8 duty groups, were very similar to those of the non-regular workers in business support.
The new government is also introducing policies that restrict use of the non-regular workers, such as creating better working environments for non-regular workers, introducing punitive compensation in case of discrimination, and offering open-term contracts to temporary workers with constant duties in the public sector.
Companies should therefore be prepared to clearly define tasks for non-regular workers and regular workers, and have justifiable reasons for discrimination. It is also recommended that companies come up with measures to improve the performance of their non-regular workers, and plans to promote gradual entry of non-regular workers into regular employment.
Regular and non-regular worker duties should be distinct, and a wage system that reflects duties and performance should be established
The first criterion for determining discrimination is whether non-regular worker duties are the same as or similar to the duties of regular workers. Thus, tasks that regular and non-regular workers perform must be clearly differentiated from each other, and should be reflected in wages and other working conditions. Regular workers and non-regular workers should not perform the same jobs or substitute for each other, and employers are advised to assign additional tasks, operational responsibilities and authority to regular workers so that the difference between regular workers from non-regular workers is clear.
As for a fundamental solution for discrimination issues, the current wage systems should be changed into a wage system based on job or performance. Wage items need to be appropriately classified and systems prepared that organically integrate workers’ capabilities and performance.
Additional regulations should be prepared to determine payment of other benefits
It is advisable to make additional Rules of Employment for non-regular workers. Having additional rules in place can work as a positive factor to acknowledge justifiable reasons for discrimination when allegations of discrimination arise. Nevertheless, discrimination based on additional rules cannot be justified only by the existence of those rules. For example, the National Labor Relations Commission found ‘Company A’ guilty of unfair discrimination since the company had a salary table that allowed gradual increases to regular workers’ wages, even though it had additional rules stating that non-regular workers would not receive salary increases.
Each benefit and welfare items should be clearly written. In H Capital’s case, the MOEL determined that the company did not pay its temporary workers bonuses. Although the company had been paying bonuses (included in the base pay), the company did not have ‘bonuses’ as one of their wage items.
Fair welfare benefits and incentives should be provided based on performance
Company C, a telecommunications company, provides appropriate wages and welfare benefits to motivate its non-regular workers and maintain harmony in the organization. The company applies the same wage structure for both regular and non-regular workers, and provides non-regular workers with selective welfare benefits similar to those provided for regular workers. Company C equally rewards both non-regular and regular workers, (received by approximately 2% in each group), while most companies make rewards available only to regular workers. The company also issued intranet IDs for all non-regular workers, and workers had equal access to information and management policy. The company’s system promoted employee engagement and loyalty of non-regular workers, and improved understanding of company-wide management policy.
Like Company C, besides providing fair welfare benefits, giving incentives based on performance and jobs should be considered. This not only promotes willingness in non-regular workers to work hard and develop their skills, but also strengthens the correlation between wages and productivity. This kind of policy is more effective for jobs in sales etc. where performance can be objectively measured, and jobs where personal abilities greatly influence the outcome.
Training opportunities for professional development should be provided
Training opportunities for non-regular workers are quite rare since such workers are mostly used for simple works or peripheral tasks. However, employers are advised to provide training opportunities to increase productivity and boost morale. Effective ways to train non-regular workers can include:
First, OJT (on-the-job training) and on-site training are advised rather than collective and theoretical training. OJT is more effective than having additional hours of training since most non-regular workers are working on the field. Training should help the workers to understand their duties well in the workplace through detailed and specific case studies.
Second, employers are advised to promote the use of intranet or social network services, and run learning clubs for non-regular workers. Through an information network, non-regular workers can share information on the company and management policy, and observe other workers’ tasks. This will enhance training and a sense of belonging. Running educational clubs and sharing results within the organization will also help improve productivity.
Third, it is important to inspire non-regular workers to participate in training programs. Employers need objective criteria to assess training outcomes, and a system to reflect the outcomes in performance evaluations. Moreover, employers should let non-regular workers know about the system and encourage their participation so that training leads to actual improvement in job performance.
Gradual entry into regular employment while considering company circumstances
Company B, a credit card company, uses dispatch, contract, and regular workers for credit card processing. Dispatch workers are responsible for call center services and office assistance, contract workers are responsible for customer counseling and general office work, and regular full-time workers are used in such areas as counseling management. The company runs an in-house recruiting system that allows dispatch employment to become regular full-time employment. The recruiting system supports the promotion of outstanding workers and boosts non-regular workers’ morale.
Company B directly hires outstanding dispatch workers as contract workers before the 2-year period of dispatch is over. Then, contract workers with a certain amount of work experience and level of performance are re-hired as regular full-time workers. Non-regular workers are eligible to apply for regular jobs based on their evaluation results. A number of evaluators make assessments through the on-line evaluation system with the evaluation criteria including COI (Customer-Oriented Index), contribution, enthusiasm for work, professionalism, and team work. This systematic and objective process of evaluation and in-house recruitment boosts non-regular workers’ morale and work performance.
The government is seeking to strengthen protection for non-regular workers and politicians are working on legislation of related bills. Companies therefore ought to find new ways of managing their non-regular workers.
Many companies in the financial and retail sectors have promoted their non-regular workers into open-term employment. However, it is important to keep in mind that changing employment type as a temporary expedient without thorough preparation can ultimately result in greater burden for the company. Abrupt changes in employment type without correlation to productivity can result in a sharp rise in wages and rigidity in human resource management.
In this context, enhancing non-regular workers’ capabilities and morale should be done first so that workers can contribute to increase of productivity. By doing so, the wage increase resulting from the changeover of non-regular workers into regular ones, can be offset and the workers can serve a sustainable growth engine.