■ The new government to push ahead with its policy agenda in three steps: Administrative action → Policy goals → Legislation
If the new administration hopes to implement all of its labor and employment policies, it will need to revise related laws. However, some policies can be enforced by the government’s executive branch. In particular, presidential election pledges such as job creation in the public sector, reduction of working hours, increasing the minimum wage and other major policies described in the Presidential Committee for Job Creation report are expected to be actively pursued.
< Major Policies that can be Implemented through Administrative Action >
|
Policy |
Details |
| 1. Convert temporary employees in permanent and continuous positions in the public sector to regular employment status | Develop a policy roadmap to convert the status of non-regular workers to regular employment in the public sector |
| 2. Abolish current administrative interpretation and guidelines | ▲ Abolish labor guidelines on fair HR management and employment rules
▲ Scrap the current administrative interpretation on working hours up to 68 hours a week |
| 3. Increase the number of annual holidays and substitute holidays (by enforcement decree) | ▲ Protect the right to rest for employees of SMEs
※ Need to revise the current enforcement decree in order to increase the number of annual public holidays, and amend current laws to have public holidays apply to all citizens |
| 4. Reduce the scope of ‘essential businesses’ (by enforcement decree) | ▲ Reduce the scope of ‘essential businesses’ by industry (not included in the president’s election pledge) |
| 5. Apply the Labor Standards Act to smaller workplaces with 5 employees or less (by enforcement decree) | ▲ Apply Labor Standards Act such as restriction of dismissals and payment of premium for extended work (not included in the president’s election pledge) |
| 6. Withdraw declaration that the Korean Teachers & Educational Workers’ Union and the Korean Government Employees Union are illegal
(by enforcement decree) |
▲ Withdraw decision to reject reports of establishment of trade unions and to declare the teachers and government employees unions illegal (not included in the president’s election pledge ) |
| 7. Enhance labor inspections | ▲ Increase the number of labor inspectors
※ Need to revise current laws in order to establish labor inspection agency |
| 8. Establish the pan-governmental Euljiro Committee | ▲ Establish it as the Presidential Committee |
| 9. Strengthen the Fair Trade Commission to exclusively oversee large companies | ▲ Establish an investigation department within the Korea Fair Trade Commission |
■ Major Labor Policies
- Individual Labor Relations
1) Job creation
| ￭ Create 810,000 jobs in the public sector
– 174,000 jobs for public workers and 340,000 jobs for public agency social service workers – 300,000 jobs through shorter working hours and direct employment in the public sector
￭ Establish the Presidential Committee for Job Creation
￭ Implement a youth employment quota in the private sector – 3% for workplaces with 300 employees or more; 4% for 500 or more; 5% for 1,000 or more
￭ Expand blind recruitment system (ban companies from requesting personal information such as academic background in the process of recruitment and employment)
￭ Create jobs based on social agreement – Provide employees with appropriate wages and attract investment by companies |
2) Reduction of non-regular employment and anti-discrimination
| ￭ Restrict the use of non-regular workers
– Hire regular workers for continuous and permanent positions and safety and life-related jobs
￭ Expand subsidy for conversion of non-regular worker status to regular employment and impose a non-regular employment levy
￭ Enact the Anti-discrimination Act – Guarantee equal pay for work of equal value and develop detailed criteria
￭ Address wage discrimination through introduction of a fair wage system – Reduce wage gap between large companies and SMEs, regular workers and non-regular workers, university graduates and high school graduates – Currently, SME employee and non-regular worker wages are only 61.4% and 53.5%, respectively, compared to large companies. The government plans to narrow this gap to 80%. |
The government plans to develop a policy roadmap to convert non-regular worker status to regular employment in August, and apply the principle of ‘equal pay for work of equal value’ to address discrimination against non-regular workers.
3) Reduction of working hours
| ￭ Realize the reduction of annual average working hours to 1,800 by 2021
– Abolish the current administrative interpretation (included in the ‘13 Tasks in 100 Days Plan’) – Implement 52-hour work week including holidays ￭ Protect worker right to rest – Promote the use of annual paid leaves and expand public holidays to the private sector – Introduce minimum break time (11 hours) ￭ Introduce legislation on leaving the workplace on time after work – Introduce a responsibility to record commuting hours, eliminate the sending of work orders (KakaoTalk, etc.) after work – Regulate comprehensive wage systems |
The government is prioritizing the passage in the National Assembly of a revised bill to the Labor Standards Act that includes holiday work into extended working hours and plans to prepare comprehensive support to protect micro businesses and their workers.
4) In-house subcontracting / illegal dispatch
| ￭ Legislate joint responsibility of employers (primary contractors and their subcontractor firms) regarding decisions on working conditions and occupational safety and health
￭ Eliminate illegal dispatches in large companies by prohibiting labor subcontracting and preparing standards for subcontracting/dispatching ￭ When illegal dispatch is identified, institutionalize the immediate direct employment of the concerned worker |
A revised bill to the Labor Standards Act is pending in the National Assembly which ensures continuous employment and working conditions when primary contractors change subcontractors. The revised bill to the Act on the Protection, Etc. of Temporary Agency Workers which restricts subcontracting and obligates the using employer to hire a dispatched worker directly in the event that worker is identified as illegally dispatched, is also pending.
5) Dismissals
| ￭ Make reinstatement of unfairly dismissed workers mandatory when the first reinstatement decision is made (if relevant workers so desire)
￭ Legislate an Act on Prohibition of Abuse of Voluntary Resignation ￭ Restrict layoffs and introduce mandatory reemployment of laid-off workers |
A revised bill to the Labor Standards Act that requires reinstatement of laid-off workers when decisions are made to re-hire and strengthens the acceptable criteria for dismissal for managerial reasons is also pending in the National Assembly.
6) Abolition of two major labor guidelines, and legislation of an Act on the Protection of Emotional Workers
| ￭ Two major labor guidelines and performance-based wage systems to be abolished
￭ Act on the Protection of Emotional Workers to be legislated, as well as an Act to prevent harassment in workplaces |
Special Advisory Committee to President has requested the Ministry of Employment & Labor (MOEL) to abolish two major labor guidelines. The MOEL plans to modify and supplement problematic parts of the guidelines. An Act on the Protection of Emotional Workers and a revised bill to the Labor Standards Act that imposes the duty to take preventive action against harassment in the workplace are pending in the National Assembly.
- Collective Industrial Relations
1) Participation of labor representatives in boards of directors
| ￭ Expand to private companies after introduction in the public sector and the top four large companies
– Secure the participation of 1 ~ 2 worker representatives in the boards of directors |
The government confirmed that it would introduce labor representatives on boards of directors at public institutions as one of its 100 projects under the 5-year national plans. The government also plans to utilize a labor-management consultation body and revise the Act on the Management of Public Institutions in order to introduce and ensure wider acceptance of the concept of labor representatives.
2) Improvement of time-off and unified bargaining channel systems
| ￭ Improve time-off and unified bargaining channel systems |
A specific policy direction has not yet been proposed, but labor is demanding the abolishment of these two systems.
3) Establishment of a Korean-style chamber of labor
| ￭ Establish a Korean-style chamber of labor that targets non-unionized workers |
The new administration has proposed the establishment of a chamber of labor as a statutory organization, to which every worker who pays employment insurance is obligated to subscribe as is the case for businesses with the Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The KCTU opposes the establishment of such a chamber under the reason that it may weaken the labor unions.
4) Employee representative systems
| ￭ Realize employee representatives to represent workers in workplaces |
A specific policy direction has not yet been proposed, but labor is demanding introduction of joint labor-management decision-making on personnel and management. The Act on the Promotion of Workers’ Participation and Cooperation and the Labor Standards Act are expected to be revised as a way to redefine the concept of worker representatives.
5) Promotion of industry-level collective bargaining and expansion of scope & effect of collective agreements
| ￭ Prepare systems to promote industry-level collective bargaining
￭ Align systems to expand scope and effect of collective agreements |
A specific policy direction has not yet been proposed, but labor’s policy demands during the presidential election included abolition of the unified bargaining channel system, promotion of industry-level collective bargaining, and expansion of the effect of industry-level collective agreements.
6) Restrictions on compensation for damage and provisional attachments
| ￭ Restrict compensation for damage and provisional attachments regarding justifiable industrial actions |
Labor’s policy demands during the presidential election included prohibition of provisional attachments in cases of labor disputes, abolition of criminal punishment and of the prohibition against interference with business in relation to industrial actions. A revised bill to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act is pending in the National Assembly, which allows compensation for damage only when industrial actions are accompanied by violence or destruction.
7) Protection of workers in special types of employment
| ￭ Workers in special types of employment to be eligible for employment insurance
￭ Secure fundamental labor rights of workers in special types of employment ￭ Make it mandatory for workers in special types of employment to subscribe to occupational health and safety insurance, and redefine the concept of ‘employee’ in the Occupational Safety and Health Act to include such workers |
Starting with the subscription to the social insurances by workers in special types of employment, the government is expected to focus on guaranteeing the three labor rights as well. On 29 May, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended that the Minister of Employment and Labor either revise the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act or legislate a separate law for the protection of the three labor rights of workers in special types of employment.