The Ministry of Employment & Labor (MOEL) has stated its plans on reforming labor market structure in a report to the President. The government’s plans to amend related labor law are given in Table 3.
[Table 1] MOEL Plans for Labor Law Amendment in 2015
Labor Laws
|
Issues
|
Planned Amendments
|
Labor
Standards Act
|
Ordinary wage
|
• Clarify the scope of ordinary wage based on Supreme Court full-member decision
|
Reduction of working hours
|
• Include holiday working hours in extended working hours (Gradual enforcement and allow additional extended working hours)
• Reduce the list of sectors exempt from statutory working hour limits (22 sectors → 10 sectors)
• Expand unit period of flexible working hours (3 months to 1 year)
• Expand discretionary work types
|
|
Managerial dismissal
|
• Strengthen requirements for dismissal for managerial purposes (Specific examples of measures to avoid dismissal, expand items requiring consultation with worker representatives and obligation to send written notice)
|
|
Act on the Protection, etc., of Fixed-term & Part-time Employees
Act on the Protection, etc., of Dispatched Workers
|
–
|
• Permit trade unions to apply for remedy for discrimination on behalf of employees
• Extend contract period
(from 2 years to 4 years)
• Limit the number of contract renewals and restrict use of non-regular workers for safety-related work
|
Act of the Protection, etc., of Dispatched Workers
|
–
|
• Clarify distinction between dispatch and subcontract employment
• Allow loosening of restrictions on use of highly-paid professionals
|
Act on the Promotion of Worker Participation & Cooperation
|
–
|
• Grant right to dispatch and in-house subcontract workers to state opinions in joint labor-management conferences
|