1. Labor bills to be the main focus at the special session of the National Assembly
The special session of the National Assembly is in progress for the 30 days beginning June 3 until July 2. The main focus of this special session is expected to be the laws related to labor and economic democratization. In particular, most discussions are expected to concentrate on bills which place a heavy burden on enterprises, such as lay-off regulations, reduction of working hours and the use of in-house subcontract workers.
<Table 1> Labor Bills Pending at the Environment & Labor Committee
|
Issue
|
Proposed by
|
Main Features
|
|
|
Ordinary wage
|
Opposition parties
|
‣ All wages to be included in ordinary wage
|
|
|
Dismissal for managerial purposes
|
Ruling party
|
‣ Stipulate measures taken to avoid dismissal
‣ Allow dismissed workers to claim for damages
if the obligation to re-employ them first is not
fulfilled.
|
|
|
Opposition parties
|
‣Strengthen the requirement for dismissal for managerial purposes. (Obligation to consult with the workers’ representative)
‣ Allow dismissed workers to claim for damages
if the obligation to re-employ them first is not fulfilled.
|
||
|
Reduction of working hours
|
Ruling party
|
‣ Include ‘holiday work’ in ‘extended work’
(Implement in stages according to company scale)
|
|
|
Opposition parties
|
‣ Include ‘holiday work’ in ‘extended work’
|
||
|
In-house subcontract workers
|
Ruling party
|
‣ Introduce corrections to the discrimination
|
|
|
Opposition parties
|
‣ Stipulate the distinction between dispatch and
subcontract employment
|
||
|
Independent workers
|
Opposition parties
|
‣ Legally recognize independent workers as
employees under labor law
|
|
|
Time-off /
Unifying bargaining channels
|
Ruling party
|
‣Consider such factors as region, type of industry, type of employment and bargaining unit in deciding time-off limits
‣Set separate time-off limits for dispatched officials to upper-level unions
‣Exclude industrial (or regional) unions and the different bargaining issues of each union from the unifying bargaining channels clause
|
|
|
Opposition parties
|
‣Abolish time-off and the unifying bargaining channels system
|
||
|
Minimum Wage
|
Ruling party
|
‣Add the economic growth and inflation rates into the minimum wage calculation
|
|
|
Opposition parties
|
‣Set 50% of the average wage as the lower limit for the minimum wage
|
||
|
Work-life balance
|
Ruling party
|
‣Grant a leave for fertility treatment and give extra points for women with career-breaks
|
‣ Common: Allow childcare leave for female workers with children of up to 8 years old
|
|
Opposition parties
|
‣Extend paternity leave when a spouse delivers more than 1 child (3 days→5 days), grant statutory leave for medical check-ups for infectious disease (3 days), extend the scope of the Labor Standards Act to cover an employer of domestic workers and workplaces with fewer than 5 employees
|
||
|
Youth employment
|
All parties
|
‣Place mandatory youth employment quotas in private firms (3~5%)
|
|
|
Industrial accidents
|
Ruling party
|
‣Make employers responsible for identifying whether worker illness is work-related or not
‣Strengthen the responsibilities of primary contractors and prohibit the use of in-house subcontract workers for dangerous and toxic work
|
|
|
Lockouts
|
Opposition parties
|
‣Strengthen the requirement for lockouts and guarantee trade union activity during lockouts
|
|
While politicians are proposing amendments to the Labor Standards Act regarding ordinary wages, the number of lawsuits regarding ordinary wages filed by trade unions is increasing. A number of politicians from the opposition parties have proposed establishing a new clause stipulating the definition of ordinary wage. This issue is, however, not expected to be concluded the special session in June.