① Labor Bills in the National Assembly
As of 1 May, a total of 429 labor bills have been submitted to the Environment & Labor Committee of the 19th National Assembly. Among these, 31 out of 411 lawmaker-proposed bills and 3 government-proposed bills were passed in the plenary session.
During the first half of the 19th National Assembly, many bills concerning achievement of the government’s “70% employment rate” were passed, such as bills on extension of the retirement age to 60, a youth employment quota system (3%) in the public sector, etc. In addition, bills regarding the reduction of working hours and additional restrictions on massive layoffs were intensively discussed.
② Recent News
Most recently (September 2013 ~ April 2014), a total of 22 labor bills, including bills on non-regular workers and maternity protection, were passed in the National Assembly. These bills concern the introduction of a punitive damage compensation system for discrimination against non-regular workers and extension of the maternity protection system, upon which both the ruling party and opposition parties came to an agreement. On the other hand, the bill to adjust the amount of fines was not a contentious issue in the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, the Environment & Labor Committee set up a tripartite subcommittee, comprising labor, management and government representatives, and discussed major labor issues such as the reduction of working hours and the scope of ordinary wage, from 14 February to 17 April. However, the Subcommittee concluded its discussions without any concrete progress due to a huge gap in the views of all parties.
[Table 1] Recently Passed Major Labor Bills
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Acts
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Major Contents
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Enforcement Date
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Act on the Protection of Fixed-term and Dispatched Workers
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Discrimination against fixed-term and dispatched workers: 3-times punitive damage compensation is introduced and the effect of corrective orders is strengthened
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19 September 2014
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Act on Equal Employment
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The maximum age of children whose parents are entitled to childcare leave is extended (6 à 8 years old)
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14 January 2014
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A list will be released to the public of companies that failed to implement affirmative action 3 consecutive times
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1 January 2015
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Labor Standards Act
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For multiple birth, longer childbirth leaves and paid leaves are granted (60 paid days out of 90 childbirth leave days à 75 paid days out of 120 childbirth leave days
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1 June 2014
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Pregnant employees are entitled to shorter working hours without wage loss
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Companies with 300 employees or more (25 September 2014)
Companies with fewer than 300 employees (25 September 2016)
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Ÿ Employers must give advance written notice at least 30 days prior to dismissal
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24 March 2014
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Employment Insurance Act
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Ÿ During 120-day childbirth leaves for multiple birth, the wages for the first 75 days are paid by the employer, while the additional 45 days are paid out of the Employment Insurance Fund
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1 July 2014
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Framework Act on Employment Policy
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Ÿ When recruiting and employing workers, any unreasonable discrimination on the ground of education level is prohibited
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22 July 2014
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Basic Workers Welfare Act
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Ÿ Employees shall not be forced to acquire or hold their company’s stocks
Ÿ Limit on the use by SMEs of the Workers Welfare Promotion Fund is relaxed
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29 July 2014
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Acts on the Protection of Dispatched Workers, Certified Labor Affairs Consultants, Labor Relations Commission, etc.
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Fine adjusted (￦10 million equivalent to one year of imprisonment)
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Effective upon Promulgation
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Also, after active discussion, the bill regarding Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) for those in special types of employment was passed in the extraordinary session in February 2014. In addition, 16 revision bills to the Labor Standards Act, Trade Union Act, Employment Insurance Act, etc. are currently pending in the National Assembly.
In accordance with the national agenda, the government and ruling party are trying to extend the coverage of the IACI and Employment Insurance (EI) by revising the related Acts. Further, the opposition parties are pushing to recognize the legal status of those in special types of employment as employees under the Trade Union and Labor Standards Acts. The revision bill to expand the IACI to cover those in special types of employment was passed by the Environment & Labor Committee in February; however, it is currently still pending in the Subcommittee of the Legislation & Judiciary Committee due to some procedural issues.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Employment & Labor (MOEL) has formed a Tripartite Taskforce to discuss EI coverage for those in special types of employment. Once discussions have finished by the end of May, the MOEL will submit a revision bill to the National Assembly by June. Because of this, in the second half of this year, the National Assembly is likely to focus on revision bills regarding the IACI on EI coverage.
In addition to this, bills concerning the minimum wage system, holidays & leave, and responsibility for occupational safety & industrial accidents are expected to emerge as hot issues in the upcoming National Assembly sessions.
The New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) pledged to introduce a ‘Living Wage System’ in the upcoming regional election. The Living Wage System aims to ensure the humane and cultural life of employees by paying more than the minimum wage, and the NPAD is expected to pressure the National Assembly to pass the related bill. In addition, backed by government measures for female employment and follow-up measures to the Sewol ferry tragedy (such as granting disaster leave for family members of victims), legislative attempts to allow for more holidays and leave are expected. In the wake of recent and frequent industrial accidents and deaths of non-regular workers, bills to increase the responsibility for industrial accidents and disasters are expected to gain more momentum.
As part of the national agenda, the government and the ruling party have been working together to pass a bill on protection of in-house subcontracted workers; however, the opposition parties insist rather that all indirect employment be prohibited, instead of just passing a protection bill for them.