Empleo y Políticas Laborales en Corea 2014

2014
Employment and
Labor Policy in
2014
Employment and Labor Policy in Korea
Ministers Message
It's a great pleasure to publish the revised edition of Employment and Labor Policy in
Korea which contains the major achievements of Korea's employment and labor policies.
This book covers major policy tasks the government has pursued in 2014 to make real progress
with the goal of achieving a 70% employment rate. and advancing of Industrial relations.
This year, the government has doubled its efforts to create more jobs by reducing working
hours and to mobilize economically inactive population into the labor market. Most of all, we
have taken three key measures: first, promoting Korean apprenticeship training programs
(work-study dual system) to increase the youth employment rate; second, creating decent parttime jobs to enhance the employability of women; and third, establishing employment-welfare
plus centers to provide one-stop employment and welfare service for low-income groups.
Furthermore, the government has strived to improve the working conditions of non-regular
workers and narrow the gap between employees working for principal contractors and
subcontractors in order to enhance the quality of jobs.
Minister of Employment and Labor
Lee Ki Kweon
In the meantime, labor-management relations have been stable relatively amid contentious
issues, such as ordinary wages and working hours, and the tripartite dialogue among labor,
management and the government, which had been suspended since late last year, got back
on track.
In 2015, the government will make further efforts to create more jobs and implement
fundamental reform of the labor market, such as making the wage system more rational and
promoting cooperation between principal contractors and subcontractors.
I sincerely hope that this book provides readers with a clear understanding of the labor
market situation and employment and labor policies in Korea.
Minister
Lee Ki-Kweon
2014
Employment and Labor Policy in Korea
Korea at a glance
Geography and Demographics (2013)

Official Name : The Republic of Korea
Area (2013) : South Korea is 100,266
in area
Climate : Korea has a relatively temperate climate with four distinct seasons and heavy rainfall in
summer. Winter is cold.
Capital : Seoul. Other Major Cities: Sejong(Administration-Centered Complex City), Busan, Daegu,
Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, Ulsan
Population (2013) : 50,219 thousand
Population growth rate : 0.4%
Life Expectancy (2013) : 81.94 years, (Male 78.51 years, Female 85.06 years)
Language : Korean belongs to the Ural-Altaic family of Languages. Others in this group include Turkish,
Mongolian, Kazakh, Uzbek.
Writing system : Hangul, the Korean alphabet invented by King Sejong the Great in 1443, consists of
10 vowels and 14 consonants.
Economy (2013)
GDP : $1,304.3 billion
Per-capita GNI : $ 26,205
Monetary Unit : Won(
Economic Growth Rate : 3.0%

Trade Balance : $ 44.1 billion (Exports = $ 559.6 billion, Imports = $ 515.5 billion)
Consumer Price Increase : 1.3%
Major Labor Indicators (2013)

Economically active population : 25,873,000 persons
Employment rate(15~64) : 64.4%
Number of employed : 25,066,000 persons
Unemployment rate : 3.1%
Number of trade unions (2012) : 5,177
Trade Union Density (2012) : 10.3%
Number of union Members (2012) : 1,781,337 persons
Industrial accident rate : 0.59%
2014 Employment and Labor Policy in Korea
Part. 1
Major Policy Agenda for 2014
1. Increase job opportunities for youth
2. Help women fully show their abilities
3. Help middle-aged and elderly people stay active and work longer
4. Expanding workfare for low-income people
5. Build a robust employment safety net and reduce industrial accidents
6. Build a new employment and labor system that can open up a new future
13
13
14
15
16
16
Part. 2
Employment Policy for more and better jobs
I. 2014 Korea's Labor Market Trend
18
II. Implementation of the Roadmap to 70% Employment Rate to Provide Opportunities to Work
20
1. Implementation of employment-friendly policies

2. Laying the Foundation for More Jobs for Youths
3. Expansion of employment opportunities for vulnerable groups
4. Creating decent jobs by fostering social enterprises
III. Creating Vibrant Workplace through Tailored Employment Services and

Vocational Skills Development
1. User-oriented tailored employment services
2. Life-long vocational competency development based on stages of the life-cycle
IV. Building a Close-Knit Employment Safety Net

1. Strengthening employment insurance's roles and functions as a social safety net
2. Employment security program to retain or create employment
20
27
30
45
48
48
52
63
63
69
Part. 3
Protection of Working Conditions and Promotion of Workers' Welfare
I. Overview
72
II. Addressing the Practice of long working hours and Improving the Ordinary Wage System
73
1. Improvement of the working hour system

2. Improving the Ordinary Wage System
III. Minimum Wage System and Establishment of Basic Employment Conditions

1. Minimum Wage System
2. Strengthening efforts to prevent and clear up overdue wages and related support for workers
IV. Non-regular Workers' Employment Security and Addressing Discrimination

1. Non-regular employment in Korea
2. Employment security for non-regular workers and protection of their working conditions
3. Establishment and implementation of comprehensive measures for non-regular workers
4. Protection of In-house subcontracted workers
5. Support for companies' voluntary efforts to redress discrimination
V. Promotion of Workers' Welfare

1. Retirement Pension System
2. Welfare systems for workers
73
77
79
79
81
84
84
84
85
86
87
88
88
90
Part. 4
Advancement of Industrial Relations
I. Overview of Industrial Relations in Korea
94
II. Establishment of Foundation for Win-Win Labor-Management Cooperation
95
1. Strengthening of central tripartite dialogue and local quadripartite cooperation

2. Labor-management council system
3. Spread of social responsibility among employers and workers
4. Stronger support for the spread of labor-management cooperation
95
96
97
98
III. Establishment of Fair and Responsible Industrial Relations Culture
100
1. Efficient and preventive management of labor-management conflicts

2. Reform of irrational industrial relations culture and practices
100
101
IV. Improvement of Industrial Relations Laws and Systems

1. Rational reinforcement of the paid time-off system
2. Strengthening Labor Relation Commissions' dispute prevention/mediation functions
V. Establishment of Rational Industrial Relations in the Public Sector

1. Public officials' labor relations
2. Teachers' industrial relations
3. Industrial relations in other areas of the public sector
102
102
103
108
108
110
111
Part. 5
Creation of Safe and Healthy Workplace
I. Overview
114
II. Safety Management in Accident-Prone, Vulnerable Sectors
117
1. Intensive control of occupational accidents

2. Stronger efforts to prevent fatal and big accidents
3. Protection of workers vulnerable to industrial accidents
117
117
122
III. Enhanced Prevention of Occupational Diseases
125
1. Chemicals control
2. Working environment management
3. Employee health management
125
126
127
IV. Strengthening Health Management of Workers
129
1. Enhanced prevention of work-related diseases

2. Support for health management in small workplaces
129
130
V. Improved Infrastructure for Industrial Accident Prevention

1. Establishment of the risk assessment system
2. Promotion of win-win cooperation on occupational safety and health(OSH)
VI. Expanded IACI Coverage and Enhanced Return-to-Work for Workers with
Occupational Accidents
1. Overview
2. Measures taken to extend IACI coverage to non-standard contracted workers
3. Reinforced rehabilitation services to enhance return-to-work for workers with occupational accidents
132
132
134
138
138
138
139
Part. 6
International Cooperation in Employment and Labor Administration
1. Overview
2. Participation in activities of international organizations
3. G20 Labor and Employment Ministerial Meeting
4. FTA negotiations
5. Implementation of international cooperation projects
6. Support for labor management at Korean companies overseas and foreign companies in Korea
144
145
146
147
147
151
Appendix
I. Major Statistics
156
II. Organizational Chart
159
Part. 1
Major Policy Agenda

A country where all people can fully show their abilities in the jobs they want
Childbirth
Childcare
Housework
Help women fully show their abilities
Social safety net
Increase job
opportunities
for youth
Education
Training
Industrial
relations
12
Build a robust
employment safety net
and reduce industrial
accidents
Expand workfare for low-income people
Build a new employment and

labor system that can open up a new future
Retirement
Help
middleaged and
elderly
people stay
active and
work longer
Unemployment
Industrial
accident
1. Increase job opportunities for youth
manage the quality of developed NCS to ensure that they reflect technological changes in industries.
Spreading competency-oriented hiring and HR management

The government plans to increase the number of competency-focused mentoring schools'(10
schools, 500 peopl) in sectors which desires to employee young workers and provide support
to help more businesses(180 firms) adopt core vocational competency assessment model
Creating conditions to make SMEs attractive to young people

The government will offer employment environment improvement projects for industrial
complexes, carried out by various ministries responsible for housing, culture, welfare, education,
etc., in a single package (52 billion KRW in 2014), and disseminate successful models.
Expanding the realm of jobs for young people

Related ministries will cooperate to support job creation in promising strategic industries
and strengthen high-skill education/training tailored to the needs of strategic industries. The
government will also put the K-Move project into full operation and enhance the related
performance management.
2. Help women fully show their abilities

Helping working women maintain their careers
The term childcare leave is changed to parental leave to promote the use of childcare leave
by fathers and thus to support the sharing of childcare responsibilities between both parents.
The government will provide stronger support to ensure that women can maintain their
careers by working shorter hours during their pregnancy or child-rearing period instead of
stopping their work completely.
Part. 1 Major Policy Agenda for 2014
13
The government will complete the development of NCS for all kinds of jobs and more intensely
Part 1
Innovating vocational education/training using National Competency Standards (NCS)
Providing customized services to women who desire to be reemployed

The government will continue to increase the number of job centers dedicated for women
(Sae-il centers)(120 in 2013
130 in 2014) and introduce the return-to-work academy for
women (provisional name).
Spreading part-time and flexible work

The public sector will make visible progress in hiring part-time workers.
* By 2017, 4,000 public officials and 9,000 other public-sector workers will be employed part time. In 2014
part-time jobs will be introduced among teachers.
The government will also set up a pool of substitute workers in the private sector (Private
Substitution Manpower Banks) and a recruitment portal (Work-Net) for replacement workers
and expand the subsidy for companies hiring replacement workers to make it easier to hire
replacement workers if existing employees switch to part-time work. The government will also
conduct workplace guidance and inspection with regard to maternity protection twice a year
and make public the list of companies which fail to take affirmative action (from Jan. 2015).
3. Help middle-aged and elderly people stay active and work longer
Life Act I: Entrenching the minimum retirement age of 60 or longer
The government is helping workplaces adopt the minimum retirement age of 60 or over in a
prompt manner and restructure their wage systems accordingly.
Life Act II: Helping retirees find their second careers

The government will bolster displacement services, including providing free training, for
workers due to leave or retire from their jobs in SMEs, so that they can prepare themselves
for reemployment even before retirement. To do so, the government will make the job
academy for middle-aged people an employment-linked training program specialized for the
elderly and expand it.
14
Life Act III: social security for post-retirement life and social contribution
3,000 in 2014),
and in cooperation with local governments, will create jobs to meet demand for social welfare
services (extra points for social service job-creation projects during the selection process).
4. Expanding workfare for low-income people

Spreading employment-welfare convergence services fast
The government will speed up the proliferation of employment-welfare plus centers (10
centers in 2014
70 in 2017) and make it a spatial integration model in which many
employment and welfare service agencies bring together their services under one roof so that
people can conveniently receive various services in one place.
Strengthening efforts to guarantee basic working conditions

The government will strengthen punishment for willful or habitual wage delays, create a
rights remedy team to promptly settle wage delay cases and make labor inspections more
professional and effective by setting up a wide-area labor inspection team in each of the
seven regional offices.
Improving the practice of employing non-regular workers

The public sector is converting its non-regular workers to regular status (20,000 workers in
2014, total 65,000 in 2013~2015), and the conversion results of public institutions are
checked and announced every February and July.
The government will strengthen guidance and inspection for workplaces employing a large
number of non-regular workers to find and correct discrimination. The government will introduce
the punitive compensation system designed to deal with willful or repetitive discrimination and the
provision expanding the effect of confirmed corrective orders (Sept. 19, 2014).
Part. 1 Major Policy Agenda for 2014
Part 1
The government will create more social contribution jobs (1,345 jobs in 2013
15
5. Build a robust employment safety net and reduce industrial accidents

Building a more close-knit employment safety net
The government will reinforce the employment safety net, especially for the five groups
which are neither covered by, nor enrolled in, employment insurance (EI).
The government is also pursuing an overall review and reform of the unemployment benefit
program to give jobless people an adequate level of support during unemployment and help
them move to stable jobs. The government raised the maximum amount of job-seeking
benefit (unemployment benefit) in line with wage increases and revised the minimum amount
to make it more lucrative to work.
Creating an accident-free safe workplace

In order to make large companies more responsible for safety and health, the government
will control excessive contracting out of hazardous or dangerous work. More specifically, the
government will expand the scope of work prohibited from being contracted out, such as
work involving handling hydrofluoric acid or sulfuric acid, and tighten the requirements for
permission to contract out hazardous or dangerous work in the second half of 2014. The
government will also strengthen the penal provisions for principals contractors violating laws
in the second half of 2014 and expand the scope of industries in which large companies and
SMEs are required to strengthen their cooperation.
6. Build a new employment and labor system that can open up a new future
New employment and labor system means creating an open and fair labor market by revamping
old labor market institutions and practices unable to keep up with economic and social changes,
such as low fertility, population ageing, global low growth and widening socioeconomic inequality.
The government aims to create an efficient labor market that can increase productivity and create
jobs by reforming labor market institutions. To that end, the government will help restructure wage
systems into job-, value- and competency-based ones and thus enhance wage fairness.
The government aims to create an open labor market that offers various forms of work by
improving the way of working and work culture. It also tries to create a fair labor market that
can deliver prosperity for all by changing unreasonable practices.
16
Part. 2
Employment Policy
for more and better jobs
2014 Korea's Labor Market Trend
As Korea's economic growth rate which had fallen to as low as 2.3% went back up to 3.9%
in the first quarter of 2014, the number of employed persons increased steeply. In the third
quarter of 2014, employment growth stayed at a higher level than in previous years.
<Number of the employed by year

(in 1000 persons)>
<Employment growth in selected countries

(in 2012, %, year-on-year change)>
* Source: Statistics Korea, Economically Active Population Survey
The employment rate for 15~64 year olds dropped to 62.9% in 2009, but since the financial
crisis, it has been on the increase, hitting a record high of 64.4% in 2013. The employment
rate for those aged 15 and over also returned to a pre-crisis level of 59.5% in 2013. It
averaged 60.2% between January and October in 2014, which was the highest on record.
<Employment rate for those aged 15~64 (%)>
18
<Employment rate for those aged 15 and over (%)>
Not only has employment expanded quantitatively, but the employment structure has also
continued to improve as the employment growth has been driven mainly by wage workers
and women, and the increase in paid employment has been led by regular workers. In
particular, workers on an employment contract of indefinite duration who enjoy a relatively
high level of job security accounted for more than 99% of all regular workers newly
increase. It averaged 54.9% between January and October in 2014, staying above the level
<Ratio of regular employees to all wage

workers (%)>
<Employment rate for 15~64 year old women (%)>
Nonetheless, some problems still persist, including declining youth employment and long
working hours. The youth employment rate has fallen considerably (from 45.1% in 2004
40.7% in 2013) since the financial crisis. And wage workers in Korea worked an average of
2,071 hours in 2013, 21 hours less than in the previous year. The figure was the third highest
among OECD countries, behind Mexico (2,328 hours) and Chile (2,058 hours).
Part. 2 Employment Policy for more and better jobs
19
seen before the financial crisis.
Part 2
employed in 2013. The employment rate for 15~64 year-old women has continued to
III
Implementation
the Roadmap
to 70%Measures
Employment
Employment & of
Industrial
Relations
Rate to Provide Opportunities to Work
1. Implementation of employment-friendly policies

1-1. Implementing the Roadmap to 70% Employment Rate
1-1-1. Background
The government established the Roadmap to 70% Employment Rate on June 4, 2013 and
has since been implementing it in order to cope with low fertility and population ageing and
restore the middle class.
<Four major strategies of Roadmap to 70% Employment Rate>

Reform of Working hours &
Work Arrangements
Job Creation through

Creative Economy
Business start-ups
New occupations
Innovative SMEs
Service sector Jobs
Social economy
Reduction of long Working hours

Spread of decent part-time work
Spread of flexible work arrangements
70%
employment rate
Strengthen Social Responsibility

& Tripartite Partnership
Mobilizing Untapped
Workforces
Women
Youth
Older Workers
Inactive &
Working poors
Removal of discrimination
Tripartite Agreement
In 2014, the second year of the implementation of the Roadmap, the government
maintained its government-wide cooperation mechanism and pushed ahead with fieldoriented policies to produce more tangible outcomes for the public. The government has been
20
working to achieve a paradigm shift in the labor market, which is the ultimate goal of the
Roadmap, by moving the focus away from exports, manufacturing, large companies and male
and full-time employment, and towards domestic consumption, services, SMEs, women and
work-life balance. By doing so, the government has continued its efforts to improve the way
of working and create quality jobs.
Part 2
In 2014, the government continued its efforts to make the outcomes of policies contained in the
Roadmap more tangible to the general public by, for example, coming up with field-oriented
complementary measures and strengthening the role of local areas. As part of such efforts, it
monitored the key tasks which had already been announced as part of the Roadmap, at the field level,
and immediately took follow-up measures based on the results. Moreover, in an effort to strengthen
the role of local areas, the government set an employment target for each local area (16 cities and
provinces) and monitored progress (three occasions in 2014 (May 19, Jul. 22 and Nov. 3)) through
task forces run by 47 job centers to meet a 70% employment target. It also held a jobs policy
meeting attended by vice mayors and governors of cities and provinces (Oct. 29). Meanwhile, the
government-wide cooperation mechanism built around the Roadmap continued to operate to ensure
the smooth implementation of the Roadmap.
1-1-3. Achievement
Major employment indicators, including the employment rate, have improved thanks to the
continued implementation of the Roadmap.
For a start, employment has grown consistently since the second half of 2013 when the
government unveiled the Roadmap with the employment rate for 15~64 year olds reaching a
record high of 66.0% in July 2014. The average employment rate for 15~64 year olds between
January and October in 2014 was 65.3%, representing the highest rate ever recorded for the
comparable period and an increase of 0.9%p from the same period a year ago. By population
group, the employment rate rose for all population groups in October 2014. The number of
employed persons increased substantially, especially among women and older people.
The quality of employment has improved, too. Regular employees(employees on contracts
of one year or more) have made up a growing share of employed persons (59.3% in 2010
21
1-1-2. Contents
64.9% in 2014, Jan.-Oct. period). In 2013, the wages of temporary and daily workers jumped
by 6.5%, a bigger increase than 3.8% for regular employees. The proportion of part-time
workers covered by social insurance has increased across all industries, which implies that
decent part-time employment has grown as well.
Moreover, the number of enterprises participating in the work-life balance campaign has
continued to increase, reaching 134 (including NGOs) in November 2014. Interest in
improving the way of working and work culture is growing across society as evidenced by
the fact that major daily newspapers, such as The Hankyoreh (Life with Work-Free
Evening, Oct. 12~) and The Dong-A Ilbo (Please Give Back My Evening Feb. 20~), carry
a series of related feature articles.
Meanwhile, a total of 95 follow-up measures had been announced and 31 laws had been
enacted or revised until September 2014 since the launch of the Roadmap.
1-1-4. Future plan

In 2015, the government will continue to make efforts to achieve a 70% employment rate
by, for example, implementing the Roadmap as planned.
In the third year of its implementation, rather than developing new policies, the government
will manage and administer existing policies in an outcome-oriented way, with emphasis on
making their outcomes more tangible to the general public. To do so, it will focus on
producing concrete outcomes by, for example, conducting field-level monitoring and finding
best practices, especially with regard to three key policy tasks, namely part-time work, the
work-study dual system and employment-welfare centers.
In an effort to strengthen the local- or industry-level monitoring systems, the government
will also monitor the performance of local areas through a local jobs policy meeting
attended by vice mayors and governors of cities and provinces, and conduct in-depth
monitoring and take employment support measures, mainly in sectors likely to suffer a
massive employment adjustment or a slump.
22
1-2. Expanding and strengthening employment impact evaluation

1-2-1. Background
As the economic and industrial structures characterized by low employment have been
any improvement, and progress toward better and more jobs has remained slow. So the
government policy, including economic, industrial and welfare policies as well as
employment policies that have a direct impact on jobs. This made it necessary to analyze and
assess objectively the employment impacts of government policies and administer them in an
employment-friendly way based on the results.
1-2-2. Achievement
According to the results of basic research conducted in 2006~2009 to implement the
employment impact evaluation system and the Framework Act on Employment Policy
amended in 2009, the government conducted employment impact evaluations of seven
projects, including the four rivers restoration project within the remit of the Ministry of Land,
Transport and Maritime Affairs and policy for the development, utilization and dissemination
of new and renewable energy technologies, on a trial basis in 2010. It examined the
employment effects of those projects, drew up relevant budgets in a way to boost their jobcreation effects, and made policy suggestions, such as more investment in vocational training
and HRD, to increase their employment effects.
In 2011, the government designated the Korea Employment Information Service as the
employment impact evaluation center to evaluate the employment impacts of government policies
on an regular and ongoing basis. In particular, with a view to ensuring timely evaluation of
policies, the government conducted a survey of the general public, employment experts, central
government agencies and local governments to identify policy tasks that need such evaluation.
In particular, as the current government shifted the focus of the national agenda from
growth to employment, the need to assess major policies from the perspective of employment
has been growing higher. In response, the government has selected key job-creation projects,
including tasks being implemented under the Roadmap, as evaluation targets since 2013.
23
government decided to find policy alternatives that can create more jobs, in all areas of
Part 2
intensifying since the 1990s, even amid economic growth, people have been unable to feel
As employment impact evaluation has become the main means of evaluating the Roadmap,
the results of employment impact evaluations are increasingly being used. In 2013, the
government came up with a guideline for calculating job-creation effects on the basis of the
methodology used for employment impact evaluation, and calculated the effects of each
government agency's major projects on job creation according to the guideline. It is now
examining those effects.
Moreover, the government came up with an employment impact evaluation guideline in
July 2013 to make the evaluation procedure and methodology more systematic.
1-2-3. Future plan

In order to help national policies to be administered in a job-centered manner, the Ministry of
Employment and Labor will continue to expand and strengthen the employment impact
evaluation system. With the system, MOEL will predict the job-creation effects of key tasks
included in the Roadmap and thus ensure that plans taking account of jobs can be established. In
particular, to ensure that project plans and budgets reflect improvement measures resulting from
evaluations, it will strengthen the linkage system and thus increase the utilization of evaluation
results. It will also continue to expand the scope of evaluation targets to include institutional
improvements and industrial policies as well as existing funding projects, and thereby support
the establishment and implementation of employment-friendly policies at the macro level.
The evaluation system will be refined in a way that makes evaluation results known and open to
the general public. In particular, more concrete and easy-to-use policy suggestions will be offered
based on evaluation results. To that end, the government will create a database of evaluation results
and further strengthen its collaboration with the National Assembly and private organizations.
1-3. Implementing local-based employment policies

1-3-1. Overview
In response to the trend towards localization and decentralization, the government has
strengthened local employment policies by establishing and implementing policies suited
24
toward local characteristics in order to enhance efficiency and bridge gaps in job
opportunities between regions.
1-3-2. Policy measures to strengthen local employment infrastructure

provinces. The committees deliberate on various projects such as social service job projects,
creation support programs, etc. The government created legal grounds for the integration of
the regional employment deliberation committees into the committee of labor, management,
civil society and the government.
Secondly, in order to promote employment policies customized to local areas by creating
jobs and nurturing human resources who fit in the local economy, information has been shared
and exchanged between the central government and local governments, also policy council
meetings on local employment were held to create more jobs through the cooperative efforts.
Thirdly, to strengthen the employment policy capacity of local areas, the government has
provided local employment education courses such as the local job creation target notice
system, local-customized job creation support programs, etc. particularly for those in charge
of employment services at local governments and NGOs.
1-3-3. Local-customized job creation support program

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has carried out a local-based job creation
program since 2006 to ensure that local areas take a leading role in designing and
implementing their own job creation projects.
The local-customized job creation support program was created to help local NGOs,
academic institutions, workers' and employers' organizations, and local governments conduct
research on their local labor markets and develop creative job creation projects.
In 2014, under the local-customized job creation support program, the government selected 567
local projects through an open bidding process and provided them with 77 billion KRW in
25
projects aimed at expanding employment services at colleges and universities, local-based job
Part 2
Firstly, regional employment deliberation committees were set up in 17 municipalities and
funding. Among the selected projects, specialized projects accounted for the biggest portion with
485 projects, followed by 16 packaged projects, 49 research projects and 117 forum projects.
Furthermore, with a view to strengthening the connection with the local job creation target
notice system, the government began to provide financial supports to local governments
with good records in relation to the system: an additional 5.8 billion won was granted to 56
local governments to finance their local-customized job creation projects.
<Outcome of the 2014 local-customized job creation support program>

(unit : million KRW)
Type
No. of projects
Amount of subsidies
Specialized project
Packaged project
Research & forum project

Research
Forum
Total
485
16
49
17
567
68,704
4,559
2,949
765
76,977
The local-customized job creation support program has provided an opportunity to rethink
the necessity and validity of local employment policies and contributed to development of
policy capabilities of local governments.
Moreover, the programs are also meaningful in that they serve as an opportunity to request
integration of local employment governance and expansion of labor-management
participation as the central and local labor-management organizations become more interested
in local employment policies.
1-4. Local job creation target notice system

Local job creation target notice system is a measure to boost local employment. Heads of
local governments announce to local citizens the goals and plans associated with job creation
which are to be pursued throughout their term in office. The central government provides
various supports to realize the goals and plans. In cooperation with local employment-related
organizations, heads of local governments develop specific goals and plans for job creation
and publicize them to local citizens through local press, government homepages, etc.
26
The goals that need to be announced include indicators such as the employment rate, the
number of employed people, etc., which can be found from statistical surveys, and job creation
targets for each project to be carried out. The action plans necessary to achieve such goals
include specific measures tailored to local characteristics that need to be taken in order to
create and/or retain jobs, reduce the supply-demand mismatch, develop vocational skills, etc.
<Number of local governments participating in the local job creation target notice system in 2014>
Total
Metropolitan city/ province
City
County
Autonomous district
No. of all local governments
244
17
73
85
69
No. of participants
244
17
73
85
69
(%)
(100)
(100)
(100)
(100)
(100)
The local job creation target notice system contributed to the creation of jobs suited to local
characteristics and improvement of awareness on job creation and skills development by
encouraging local governments' leadership in policy development and designing customized
projects for different regions. Furthermore, the System also helped to create human networks
among employment-related officials and experts.
2. Laying the Foundation for More Jobs for Youths

2-1. Youth Employment Trend
The youth employment rate began to decline from 44% in the first half of the 2000s,
reaching the 30% level (39.7%) for the first time in 2013. This year, however, youth
employment has seen a modest improvement. The employment rate for people aged between
25 and 29, or the major employment-age group, hovers around 68% although the employment
rate for those aged 20 to 24, or the college-age group, has declined a lot.
27
17 metropolitan city/provincial governments) have joined the system as until November 2014.
Part 2
Since the notice system was introduced in July 2010, a total of 244 local governments (including
<employment rates for youths(aged 15~29) and

all (aged 15 or above) (%)>
<youth employment rates by age group (%)>
Considering recent demographic changes in youths, high university enrollment rates, skills
mismatches and other structural factors in the labor market, it is hard to expect youth
employment to improve greatly in a short period of time. In response, the government has
implemented a range of youth employment measures, customized for the needs of different
age groups, to provide young people with more and better jobs.
2-2. Policy Measures and Future Direction

2-2-1. Providing More Job Opportunities for Youths
At a provisional session of the National Assembly in April 2013, the revised Special Act on
the Promotion of Youth Employment was passed (promulgated on May 22, 2013) under an
agreement between ruling and opposition parties. Under the Special Act, starting this year,
public institutions and local public companies are required to fill 3% of their jobs with young
people every year. In certain inevitable cases prescribed in presidential decrees, including
restructuring, an employer may be exempt from the requirement. Public institutions' youth
employment rates are reflected in assessment of their business performance, and the list of
public institutions failing to comply with the requirement is made public (temporary
implementation for three years from January 1, 2014 ~ December 31, 2016).
In the private sector, youth internship has been promoted to help young people build job
experience, increasing their chance of becoming regular workers, and help address SME's
labor shortages. In an effort to lay the groundwork for secure and quality jobs for young
28
people, the government has limited the participation of businesses with low internship
completion rates and given small but strong companies preferential treatment in assessment
and designation of internship providers.
Regarding overseas employment, the MOEL is cooperating with other ministries and
support them to find work in other countries. The government moved away from the previous
system focused on building up and utilizing various public-private networks in local areas.
The MOEL has also increased access to overseas job information by integrating information
on overseas work (internship, voluntary work, employment, etc.), scattered across several
ministries, into an integrated network of foreign job information. The government abolished
previous training programs, focused solely on producing skilled workers without
consideration of the needs of companies seeking new employees. Instead, the government
adopted programs tailored to employers' needs, such as K-MOVE School.
2-2-2. Supporting Youths to Enter the Labor Market Early

In 2013, the MOEL introduced as a pilot program the work-study dual system, an industryacademia training system in which young people receive theoretical and practical education
in the workplace and then obtain college degrees or qualifications. Starting this year, the
MOEL has been actively promoting the system.
In the youth employment academy, businesses or employers' organizations work with
universities or ordinary high schools to provide customized education linked to employment.
To support young people to enter the labor market early, college youth employment centers
have been established with job counsellors on campus to provide career guidance and
employment support services.
Moreover, the government has implemented the following measures: first, developing and
utilizing the National Competency Standards; second, developing and promoting tools for job
competency assessment; and third, promoting skills-based hiring and HR management by
offering mentoring programs (Mentor Schools) to any young people regardless of their
academic credentials in order to prevent young people from spending too much time on
getting unnecessary qualifications and delaying employment.
29
job placement system led by the public sector and training centers, shifting toward a new
Part 2
utilizing Korean networks around the world to train young Koreans to global talent and
2-2-3. Reducing Mismatches between Jobs and Youths Needs

Since October 2012, the MOEL has provided information on small but strong companies on
Worknet. In July 2013, the government improved the criteria for small but strong
companies based on young people's expectations, and as a result, the number of small but
strong companies became 10,000. Young people or youth supporters have visited small but
strong companies to directly provide young job-seekers with information on the companies.
The information includes what types of people the CEOs want to hire, interviews with HR
managers, what the companies' employees think of their workplace, stories after visiting the
companies, images, video clips and many others.
Furthermore, to narrow the wage gap between SMEs and big companies, starting next year,
the government plans to provide certain amounts of subsidies for young people working
continuously at SMESs.
3. Expansion of employment opportunities for vulnerable groups

3-1. Expansion of female employment and support for work-family balance
3-1-1. Female employment
The labor force participation rate of women aged 15-64 in Korea stood at 55.6% in 2013 and
57.2% in September 2014, below the OECD average (62.6% as of 2013). Against this backdrop,
the government devised various policy measures to promote women's economic activities.
<Women's labor force participation rate (aged 15~64) by year>
Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014.9
Participation rate
54.1%
54.5%
54.8%
54.8%
54.7%
53.9%
54.5%
54.9%
55.2%
56.2%
57.2%
* Source: Statistics Korea, KOSIS DB
<Women's labor force participation rate by age>

Age group
Participation rate
* Source: Statistics Korea, KOSIS DB
30
15~29 (young)
44.4%
55~64 (elderly)
51.4%
3-1-2. Promotion of decent part-time jobs

1) Background
It was recognized that there is a need to address the current employment practice uniformly
rate which is lower than other OECD countries. In order to increase low female employment
participate in the labor market more easily.
A decent part-time job refers to a job which allows workers to voluntarily work for shorter
hours than full-time workers dependent on the worker's own needs but without
discrimination in terms of working conditions when compared with full-time job. Decent
part-time jobs are better quality jobs than existing par-time jobs and the government is
carrying out policies to improve working conditions of the existing par-time jobs while
promoting the decent part-time jobs.
2) Implementation status
The government started consulting services(pilot projects) to promote part-time jobs in 2009
and developed and supported businesses leading part-time jobs engaged in regular work in 2010.
In 2012, the government provided 50% of wage(up to 400,000 KRW per month) for
employers who newly employed regular part-time workers(who are engaged in continued and
constant work) without fixed-term contract by reforming working system or developing new
part-time positions in order to support the promotion of work-family balanced part time jobs.
Forms of work should be diversified by promoting part-time jobs and addressing the current
employment practice uniformly focused on full-time workers in order to meet various
demands of the people, such as work-family balance, working and studying side by side, and
preparation for retirement, and to prevent waste of human resources.
In September, 2013, the government made enhanced efforts to spread decent part-time job
as a new employment trend in the labor market by establishing a support team for creation of
31
rate, work-family balanced part-time jobs need to be promoted to encourage women to
Part 2
focused on full-time workers while promoting part-time jobs in order to increase employment
decent part-time jobs(Sep. 2.). As a result, more businesses participated in a job fair for
decent part time jobs on Nov. 26. and female participation in the labor market is expanded.
In November, 2013, with plan for promotion of decent part-time jobs jointly announced
by relevant ministries, the public sector announced plans to increase decent part-time jobs for
government officials and also in government agencies, and the government increased the
maximum amount of support for labor cost and established projects for social insurance
premium support in order to promote decent part-time jobs in the private sector.
In October, 2014, follow-up measures for promotion of decent part-time job was announced
in cooperation with relevant ministries in order to enhance efforts for implementation of major
tasks in detail based on implementation results of existing measures. By making whole-ofgovernment efforts to improve an existing system and develop positions suitable for part-time
work, a system is established to provide financial support to an employer when a full-time
worker is turned into a part-time position in order to promote decent part-time jobs which can
be switched from full-time positions and customized to the needs of workers at workplaces.
3-1-3. Maternity protection and support for work-family balance

1) Support for wages and maternity leave before and after childbirth for maternity protection
Firstly, maternity leave of 90 days is given and the first 60 days of the leave are paid leave(paid
by employers). For workers at businesses which need support prior to other businesses, wages for
90 days of maternity leave before and after childbirth are granted and, for workers at
conglomerates, wages for 30 days of the leave are granted (up to 1.35 million won). For a mother
pregnant with twins or more, maternity leave before and after childbirth is increased to 120 days.
Second, as miscarriage or stillbirth leave was legislated, workers who had a miscarriage or
stillbirth are granted 5~90 days of miscarriage or stillbirth leave depending on their
pregnancy period and given miscarriage or stillbirth leave benefits.
2) Support for work-family balance

Male and female workers with a child aged 8 or under or who is under a second grader at an
elementary school can take parental leave for 1 year at maximum and, during the leave, 40%
32
of ordinary wages(up to 1 million won per month) is granted as wages. From October, 2014,
Father's Day is introduced to promote parental leave of male workers. When mother and
father take parental leave one after another for the same child, the second person who take the
leave will be granted 100% of ordinary wages(up to 1.5 million won per month) for the first
wage during the leave.
shorter hours although the worker can take childcare leave. From October, 2014, wages paid
during the leave is increased from 40% to 60% of ordinary wages in order to further promote
reduced working hours during childcare period.
Thirdly, from September, 2014, application for reduced working hours during pregnancy
period is introduced and working hours are reduced from 8 hours to 6 hours per day without
wage reduction for a female worker who is pregnant for 12 weeks or less or 36 weeks or over.
Forth, To promote women's participation in economic activities by easing their childcare burden
and to prevent them from leaving their work due to childcare responsibilities, the government
provides support to employers who establish and operate a workplace childcare center.
The government provides an employer with the maximum 300 million won when the
employer establishes a childcare center at workplace by himself and up to 1.5 billion won is
provided in case a childcare center is jointly established within an area concentrated with
SMEs. For operation of a childcare center, financial support is provided for labor cost of
teachers at the center (0.8~1.2 million won for 1 person per month) and for consumable text
books and materials (up to 5.2 million won per month).
3) Promotion of female employment

In an effort to expand female employment, subsidy for continued employment after
pregnancy and childbirth, subsidy for childcare leave, etc. and subsidy for employment of
substitute workers were consolidated into subsidy for employment security for women after
childbirth and during childcare. This subsidy is offered to an employer if he/she re-hires a
female contract worker or temporary agency worker who is pregnant or on maternity leave
33
during childcare period by paying wages for the period when a worker chose to work for
Part 2
Secondly, from September, 2011, the government is promoting reduced working hours
and thus helps to stabilize the employment of female non-regular workers during her
pregnancy or after childbirth. For a fixed-term employee, the employer will receive 400,000
KRW per month for six months and, for a non-fixed term employee, the employer will be
subsidized for up to one year - 300,000 KRW per month for the first six months and 600,000
KRW per month for the rest. In 2014, the scope of recipients, eligible for financial support for
employing substitute workers, is expanded to provide financial support for employing
workers to substitute workers on not only childcare leave but also maternity leave before and
after childbirth and the amount of support for SMEs is increased from 400,000 won to
600,000 won per month.
4) Support for women' re-employment

A total of 130 new job centers for women operate to help career-break women to find work
again. The centers provide career-break women with comprehensive employment services,
including group-counselling programs, vocational training, internship, job placement and postemployment management. In addition, from August, 2014, special training courses are newly
established and under operation for highly educated women whose career is discontinued.
3-1-4. Efforts to address age discrimination

1) Affirmative action in employment
Affirmative action in employment refers to all measures and their accompanying
procedures tentatively taken by employers to eliminate existing discrimination between men
and women in employment or promote equal employment. It is a way of enhancing minority
representation without undermining merit- or performance-based systems.
Affirmative action was introduced in Korea with the revision of the Equal Employment Act
on December 30, 2005 and took effect on March 1, 2006. In 2014, a total of 1,945 workplaces,
including 304 government-invested and government-affiliated institutions and 1,641
businesses with 500 or more ordinarily-employed workers, were subject to affirmative action.
According to an analysis of the data on male and female workers by occupation and job
grade submitted by workplaces which are subject to affirmative action as of March 31, 2014,
34
the proportion of female employees and managers on average was up 1.05%p to 37.09% and
up 1.35%p to 18.37% respectively, compared to 2013.
The government has selected companies with outstanding performance in equal
employment (affirmative action in employment) and provides them with a variety of
Part 2
administrative and financial support.
criteria to determine whether or not a business is subject to affirmative action, is increased

from 60% to 70% on average by industry in 2014 and industrial classification is broken down
to 30 from 26 in order to effectively reflect characteristics of industries. In addition, a system
is introduced to publicly announce a list of employers failed to implement the action.
2) Efforts to reform practices of gender discrimination in employment and to raise awareness

The government has strived to improve the quality of female employment by reducing
discrimination in employment and raising awareness of equal employment.
To this end, first, the Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation
prohibits gender-based discrimination in every aspect of employment including recruitment,
hiring, wages, training, job assignment, promotion, retirement age, retirement and dismissal. To
ensure the enforcement of this Act, the government has carried out education and publicity
activities on employers' relevant obligations and conducted workplace inspections and guidance.
Second, in order to prevent sexual harassment at work and create a safe and sound workplace
culture, employers are obligated to provide sexual harassment prevention education while the
government implements support programs to prevent sexual harassment at work.
Third, in an effort to encourage enterprises to voluntarily reform their unequal employment
structures, to increase society's efforts and interest in developing and utilizing a female
workforce and ultimately to enhance women's rights and interests, the government has
designated May 25th~31st of each year as equal employment week.
35
For enhancement of affirmative action, employment criteria for female employment, a
3-2. Support for promoting employment of the aged

3-2-1. Employment of the aged
Korea is one of the fastest aging countries in the world due to its low birth rate and longer life
expectancy. With the number of people aged 65 and over being 6.38 million (12.7% of the total
population) at the end of 2014, all of the cities and provinces in Korea have become an aging
society (i.e. people aged 65 or over account for more than 7% of the total population). Moreover,
Working age population(aged between 25~49) is continuously decreasing (20.587 million
persons in 2005
19.57 million persons in 2014), worsening the trend of aging population.

<Population aging trend>
(1,000 persons, %)
2000
2010
2014
2020
2030
2040
2050
No. of those aged 65 or over
3,395
5,452
6,386
8,084
12,691
16,501
17,991
% of those aged 65 or over
7.2
11.0
12.7
15.7
24.3
32.3
37.4
* Source: Statistics Korea, Future Population Estimates 2010
3-2-2. Creation of foundation for extending employment of the aged

1) Establishment and implementation of basic plan to promote employment of the aged
In December 2005, the government set up a task force comprised of relevant public officials
and private experts to create the foundation for longer and better employment of aged people
with competencies. And in September 2006, the government established and announced the
1st basic plan to promote employment of the aged, a five-year (2007-2011) plan to realize a
society in which capable elderly people can continue to work in quality jobs, regardless of
their age. As a consequence, during the period of the 1st plan, the employment rate of the
elderly increased by 3.8%p from 59.3% in 2006 to 63.1% in 2012.
In 2011, the government mapped out the 2nd plan to promote employment of the aged
(2012~2016) to complement the 1st plan and cope with ever-faster population aging. In step with
the vision of the 2nd plan, which is to create an environment where more of aged people can stay
in work longer, the government partially amended the Enforcement Decree of the Employment
Insurance Act in January 2012 to lower the wage reduction rate required for preferentially
36
supported enterprises (SMEs) (from 20% to 10%). By doing so, it laid the foundation for
facilitating the adoption of the wage peak system by SMEs and strengthening related support.
<Aged (55-64) employment trend (Statistics Korea)>
(%)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Oct,
Oct. 2014
Labor force participation rate
62.0
61.8
61.8
62.7
63.7
64.7
65.7
67.5
68.2
Employment rate
60.6
60.6
60.4
60.9
62.1
63.1
64.3
66.1
66.6
2.2
2.0
2.4
2.9
2.5
2.5
2.1
2.0
2.3
Unemployment rate
2) Guidance on employment quota and delayed retirement

In order to promote employment of the aged, employers having 300 permanent employees
or more are required to employ aged people above the industry-specific employment quota
for the elderly and to submit a status report on the employment of the elderly and the
operation of their retirement system every year.
The Act on Prohibition of Age Discrimination in Employment and Aged Employment
Promotion was amended in April 2013 to make it mandatory for employers to set the
minimum retirement age at 60 or above and reform their wage systems accordingly. This
change will come into effect on January 1, 2016 for workplaces with 300 employees or more
and public institutions and on January 1, 2017 for workplaces with fewer than 300 employees
and the central and local governments. The change is meaningful in that it is an attempt to
respond preemptively to population ageing.
3) Subsidy for the wage peak system

The government offers subsidy for the wage peak system to workers in companies which
adopt the wage peak system under which older workers are guaranteed employment for a certain
period in return for wage reduction based on their age and the number of years worked. The
wage peak system can be implemented in three forms: extending retirement ages, reemploying
workers after retirement and reducing working hours. In October, 2014, 11.838 million won is
provided as financial support for wage peak system for 2,618 workers at 283 workplaces. From
January, 2014, the government reformed the subsidy system for the wage peak system,
alleviating requirements to apply for wage decrease and increasing the maximum amount of
support from 6 million won to 7.2~8.4 million won for those who choose to extend retirement.
37
2008
Part 2
2007
3-2-3. Support for employment of the aged

1) Subsidies for extended employment of the aged
To promote and retain employment of the elderly, the government has provided subsidies to
employers who are employing the aged at a given rate or higher, continue to employ retirees or
raise the retirement age. In 2013, the government paid 57,814 million KRW in subsidies for
extended employment of the aged, benefiting 215,964 aged workers in 15,443 workplaces.
Projects for employment extension of the aged are subsidy for retirement extension ,
subsidy for reemployment of retirees , subsidy for employing many of the aged , and
subsidy for employment of the aged over 60 .
2) Loans for improving employment environment for the aged

Since 2006, the government has been providing loans to employers who intend to install or
upgrade facilities and equipment to stabilize and promote employment of the aged. In 2013, a
total of 5,432 million KRW was loaned to 23 companies.
3) Job placement services

Job placement services are provided to jobless elderly people through Job Centers under the
Ministry of Employment and Labor, 53 Senior Citizen Talent Banks and 28 Job Hope Centers
for Middle-Aged and Old People.
Senior citizen talent banks provide employment services to elderly job seekers with relatively
lower employability (53 talent banks in 2014). To improve the quality of their employment
services, the government provided competenency-enhancing education to personnel in charge,
and introduced a performance-linked management system, such as providing differentiated
support for their project operating costs for the following year according to performance.
In 2013, existing outplacement service centers run by the Korea Labor Foundation and job
centers for experienced professionals run by business associations, etc., were merged together
to create Job Centers for Middle-Aged and Old People.
38
Job Centers for Middle-Aged and Old People provide comprehensive outplacement
services, including re-employment, business start-up and life planning services, to enable
(prospective) retirees aged 40 or over to plan their second career. In 2013, 85,100 people had
applied to receive the services and 23,782 of them had succeeded in finding work.
Part 2
4) Support for internship program of the middlge-aged
Under this program, unemloyed people aged 50 or over are given internship opportunities at
companies to connect them to regular jobs.
If an employer hires middle-aged jobless person as an intern, 50% of the wage (up to 800,000
KRW a month) is subsidized for four months of the internship period. If the intern is converted
to regular employment, 650,000 per month is paid additionally for six months. In 2013, 6,518
people had been hired as interns, and 4,111 of them had been converted to regular employment.
3-2-4. Support for social contribution jobs

Since 2011, the government has implemented the program to support social contribution jobs.
This program is designed to connect middle-aged or old retirees with expertise and work
experience to social enterprises and non-profit organizations, thereby spreading social services and
coping effectively with population aging. Social service jobs are a new job model combining paid
work and voluntary activities. Program participants are paid actual expenses (for meals,
transportation, etc.) and participation allowances (2,000 KRW per hour). As of the end of October
2014, 2,297 participants had performed social contribution activities in 600 organizations.
3-3. Support for promoting employment of the disabled

3-3-1. Employment of the disabled
As of the end of 2013, 27,349 workplaces (313 central and local governments, 295 quasi-government
agencies, 268 public institutions and 26,473 private companies) obligated to hire people with disabilities
were employing 153,955 people with disabilities, achieving an employment rate of 2.48%. Until 2009,
39
Since 2013, the government has implemented an internship program for the middlge-aged.
for the purpose of calculating employment rates, all people with disabilities were considered the same
whether their disabilities were mild or severe. However, from 2010, with a view to promoting
employment of severely disabled people, one person with severe disabilities is calculated as two disabled
people (under the double counting system for workers with severe disabilities). The number of
employed people with disabilities at the end of 2013 was up 11,933 from 142,022 at the end of 2012.
3-3-2. Expansion of mandatory employment of the disabled

With a view to promoting employment of people with disabilities, the central and local
governments, public institutions and private companies with 50 or more ordinarily-employed
workers are mandatorily required to employ people with disabilities at a given proportion of the
total ordinarily-employed workers (3% for government agencies, 3% for public institutions,
2.7% for private companies). If an employer hiring 100 or more workers fails to meet the
mandatory employment quota, a disability employment levy of 670,000 KRW per month per
person falling short of the target is imposed on the employer.
Moreover, in order for the public sector to set a good example in employment of the
disabled, the mandatory employment quota for the central and local governments was
increased from 2% to 3% in 2009 and, later in 2010, the quota for public companies and
quasi-government agencies was also increased from 2% to 3%. Mandatory employment rate
is gradually increased from 2010 and adjusted to apply 3% and 2.7% to other public
institutions and private businesses, respectively, in 2014.
Thanks to these efforts, the proportion of disabled people employed in workplaces subject to the
mandatory employment quota rose to 2.48% in 2013, more than five times higher than 0.43% in
1991 when the mandatory employment system took effect. The number of disable people employed
under the system also increased more than 13-fold from 10,462 in 1991 to 153,955 in 2013.
<Employment rate of disabled people in workplaces subject to the mandatory employment system>
40
Year
1991
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Employment rate of
disabled people
0.43
1.73
1.87
2.24
2.28
2.35
2.48
<Employment rate of disabled people in workplaces subject to the mandatory employment system>
(Workplaces, persons, %, as of end-Dec. 2013)
Organization
Total
Businesses
Employment rate
7,499,665
153,955
2.48
Public officials
313
836,367
19,275
2.63
Employees
295
269,640
7,082
3.51
Public
268
310,461
7,764
2.81
Private
26,473
6,083,197
119,834
2.39
3-3-3. Stronger support for employment of the disabled

1) Support for the establishment of subsidiary-type standard workplaces
In 2008, the government introduced the subsidiary-type standard workplace system which
would help to expand employment of people with severe disabilities and offer companies a
new way to comply with their obligation to employ disabled people.
In order to further expand stable jobs for people with disabilities, the government introduced
tax credits for standard workplaces employing disabled people: employers who were
acknowledged as running such a standard workplace no later than December 31, 2016. For
employers acknowledged by Dec. 31, 2016, 100% of corporate tax and income tax are exempted
up to the first 3 years and then 50% of the tax exemption will be given for the following 2 years.
2) Support for assistive devices for the disabled

Ever since the program to provide assistive devices to the disabled was introduced in 2004,
the government has provided assistive devices and related repair services and developed new
assistive devices to complement disabled people's abilities to work. As of October, 2014, the
government provided 5,534 assistive devices to 1,841 workplaces, contributing to resolving
difficulties felt by the disabled in performing work because of disabilities.
41
27,349
Part 2
Government
Ordinarily employed
Disabled workers
workers
3-3-4. Provision of customized and specialized vocational training and employment

services
1) Expansion of customized training
Customized training is provided in close connection with companies throughout the entire
process ranging from the designing of training courses to job placement to foster human
resources suited to companies' needs. As of the end of October 2014, 612 people had
completed such training and 537 or 87.8% of them had succeeded in finding work.
2) Specialized training by type of disability

Specialized training by disability type aims to cultivate people with disabilities (visual or hearing
impairment, brain lesions or intellectual or mental disorders) into competitive human resources by
developing jobs and providing training suited to their type of disability. In 2013, specialized training
had been provided to 352 disabled people, and 300 of them had gained employment.
3) Stronger support for people with severe disabilities

For people with severe disabilities whose working ability is greatly impaired, the
government has offered subsidized employment and other supports to promote their
employment. Subsidized employment refers to efforts to help people with severe disabilities
adapt themselves to working life with the assistance of a work guide. The number of
beneficiaries of this program was 2,844 in 2013, 2,144 at the end of October 2014.
3-4. Successful implementation of the Employment Permit System for foreign workers
3-4-1. Current status
In order to protect employment opportunities for native Koreans, resolve labor shortages in
SMEs and prevent infringements upon the human rights of foreign workers, the Act on
Foreign Workers' Employment, etc., was announced on August 16, 2003, and the
Employment Permit System (EPS) was launched in August 2004.
42
For efficient management of the non-professional foreign worker introduction system, the
government abolished the existing industrial trainee system, and integrated the nonprofessional foreign worker introduction system into the EPS. Moreover, as part of an effort
to embrace Koreans living abroad, the government also introduced the Working Visit System
which offers Koreans living in China and the former Soviet Union an opportunity to visit
Part 2
freely and find work in Korea.
general EPS(E-9), 276,000 through the working visit system(H-2)) are working in Korea
under the EPS for foreign workers.
3-4-2. Contents
First of all, the EPS for foreign workers is mainly aimed at providing foreign workers to
SMEs suffering a shortage of native Korean workers. To that end, every year, the Foreign
Workforce Policy Committee (Chairman: head of the office of the Prime Minister) determines
the number of foreign workers to be invited to work in Korea, the kinds of jobs permitted for
foreign workers, etc. by taking into consideration Korea's economic conditions, employment
situation, businesses' demand for foreign workers, etc.
Second, for prevention of corruption in the process of sending workers and transparent
operation of foreign worker selection & introduction process, the Korean government has
signed MOUs aimed at improving transparency and efficiency of the sending process. The
public sector is in charge of selecting and introducing the foreign workers to be invited to
work in Korea while the private sector is excluded from the process. Currently, 15 countries
including Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc. have been designated as workersending countries through MOUs.
Third, the government is drawing up protective measures for foreign workers according to the
relevant laws and regulations including labor law, etc. The article 22, etc., of the Act on Foreign
Workers' Employment, etc., (hereinafter, Foreigner Employment Act) clearly stipulate that
foreign workers receive equal treatment with native Korean workers according to social
insurance and labor relations act such as health insurance, employment insurance, industrial
accident insurance, minimum wage, labor standards act, etc. In particular, considering the fact
43
As of September 2014, about 486,000 foreign workers (210,000 workers through the
that foreign workers are usually working for small businesses, the government is providing
stronger preventive measures to cope with overdue wages, accidents outside the workplace, etc.
by making it compulsory to take out departure guarantee insurance, return cost insurance, etc.
3-4-3. Major achievements

First, the EPS has helped to reduce labor shortages of SMEs by legally providing foreign
workers without encroaching on job opportunities for native Koreans. More specifically, 85.7%
of general foreign workers were employed in workplaces with less than 30 employees, which
are shunned by Koreans, indicating that the EPS is making substantial contribution to SMEs.
Second, the EPS has also contributed to the protection of rights and interests of foreign
workers and to the tremendous improvement of transparency in the process of sending
foreign workers. In other words, the government put an end to discrimination against foreign
workers by applying Labor Relations Acts such as the Labor Standards Act, Minimum Wage
Act, etc. to foreigners just as they are applied to native Koreans. Moreover, the public sector
took charge of worker selection and introduction, thereby improving the publicity and
transparency of the process which resulted in reduction of corruption.
Third, the EPS also enhanced Korea's standing on the world stage by providing an
exemplary model for foreign worker management. Particularly in 2011, in recognition of its
innovation, Korea was selected as the United Nations Public Service Award 1st winner under
the category of Preventing and Combating Corruption in the Public Service.
Fourth, the government is constantly collecting views from foreign workers in Korea and
their employers to improve its institutions in a way that satisfies both the employers and
workers. To ensure continued employment of foreign workers, the government gives
employers autonomy to determine the term of work contract within the boundaries of sojourn
period (three years). When an employer rehires a foreign worker, the worker no longer has to
leave Korea for one month, as was the case in the past, and the employment can now last up
to five years. In addition, to support reemployment of foreign workers who change
workplaces, the job-seeking period has been extended from two to three months, thereby
alleviating difficulties for both foreign workers and their employers.
44
Fifth, in order to offer greater support to foreign workers during their stay in Korea, the
government opened counseling centers for foreign workers in 2011 to provide labor affairsrelated counseling in ten languages including Vietnamese, etc. Moreover, in order to provide
on-the-spot service, 27 foreign-worker support centers have been established in small and
medium sized cities (Yeongam, Yeosu, Wonju, etc.) in addition to the 8 existing main centers
foreign workers who suffer from cultural differences and a language barrier and the classes
on the Korean language, practical law and the Korean culture.
4. Creating decent jobs by fostering social enterprises

4.1. Background
To address the continuing phenomenon of jobless growth and increased demand for social
services in the 2000s, discussions began in earnest on whether to introduce the European
social enterprise system. In the process, detailed discussions were carried out to introduce
social enterprise as a model for creating stable jobs and providing quality social services
through non-profit corporations/organizations. Consequently, in 2007, the social enterprise
system was introduced, and to foster social enterprises more systematically, the Act on the
Promotion of Social Enterprises was promulgated with broad public support.
4.2. Overview of social enterprises in Korea

Social enterprises refer to organizations that pursue the ultimate goal of supporting social
purposes while engaging in sales activities such as production and sale of goods and services,
etc. Social enterprises provide employment opportunities to disadvantaged people, thereby
facilitating their integration into the labor market, and use their profits to create sustainable
jobs. Furthermore, since social enterprises are closely interrelated with local communities,
they can identify and meet new service needs that are hardly recognizable to the national
government, and contribute to the financial soundness of the government through realization
of welfare through work.
Part 2
(Seoul, Uijeongbu, etc.). The services available in those centers include counseling for
45
[Functions of social enterprise]
Provision of
sustainable
jobs
integrate disadvantaged people into

labor market
increase rewarding and decent jobs
integrate local communities

develop local economy through
increased social investment
Promotion of
local
communities
Achieve a sustainable economy and social integration by fostering social enterprises
Expansion of
social
services
meet new demand for public services

innovate public services
promote corporate social contribution

and ethical corporate management
create a culture of ethical consumption
Promotion of
ethical
markets
Through 36 rounds of certification carried out from October 2007 to November 2014, 1,186
social enterprises were authorized and 26,959 persons were employed. Among them, 15,240
were from disadvantaged groups such as the disabled, the elderly, etc.
4.3. Government support for social enterprises

4.3.1. Support by the central government
First, social enterprises are entitled to tax holidays and relief on social insurance premiums in
accordance with the applicable law. More precisely, they benefit from a 50% reduction of or
exemption from corporate and income tax for the first five years of operation while companies
which donate to social enterprises may count the donated amount as an expense for up to 10%
of total corporate income. Additionally, in 2014, social enterprises that do not receive financial
46
support from the government are to be given subsidies to cover employer-paid social insurance
premiums for up to 98,000 KRW per employee every month for four years.
Second, public institutions give preferential treatment to goods and services produced by
social enterprises in procurement, providing a protected market for social enterprises. To
amounts and plans since 2013. As a result, the amounts of preferential purchases for 2013
Third, to keep supporting social enterprises' business innovation, the government supports
up to three professionals in fields, such as planning and marketing, at social enterprises. As of
late August 2014, the number of recipients was 623, about twice as high as 310 in 2011.
Fourth, the government also provides advice and business consulting in association with local
experts and outstanding managers (on a pro-bono basis) and operates academies and educational
programs for social entrepreneurs as well as social venture contests and young social entrepreneurs
nurturing programs, with a view to promoting entrepreneurship and social enterprises.
4.3.2. Efforts by the local governments

Most local governments have established ordinances and basic plans for promoting and
supporting social enterprises. As of late June 2014, 1,327 organizations have been designated
and operated as candidates for local social enterprises customized for local characteristics.
4.4. Policy direction for promotion of social enterprises

The government is planning to create jobs and pursue social values by developing new
types of social enterprises in various sectors, and, at the same time, efforts will be also made
by the government to reform and enhance support systems for social enterprises in order to
improve self-reliance of the enterprises, thereby achieving sustainable growth. In that sense,
the government will focus on promoting social investments by creating financial and capital
markets needed for the stable growth of social enterprises.
47
reached 263.186 billion KRW, 4.5 times higher than 58.442 billion KRW in 2009.
Part 2
make preferential purchases more effective, the government has announced its purchase
I
III
Creating
Vibrant
Tailored
Employment
Employment
& Workplace
Industrial through
Relations
Measures
Services and Vocational Skills Development
1. User-oriented tailored employment services

1-1. Strengthening employment services aimed at matching job seekers with jobs
Employment services are a country's core infrastructure that supports individuals' career
development throughout their lives, companies' business activities and efficient utilization of
national human resources by providing employment information, job placement services,
vocational guidance, support for vocational skills development, etc., in a comprehensive
manner. The Korean government has made the advancement of employment services a
national policy task and has been pursuing efforts to innovate employment services. Such
efforts have resulted in expanded infrastructure for public employment services and an
increase in the number of people receiving services from, or employed through, Job Centers.
1-1-1. Reinforcing Job Centers' employment services

In order to connect job seekers directly with potential employers, Job Centers have
provided various job-matching services, including holding meetings between job seekers and
employers, offering recruitment services and accompanying job seekers to interviews. As of
October 2014, 72 Job Centers had provided such services on 9,597 occasions, and 10,645
businesses and 58,848 job seekers had participated, resulting in 10,241 people finding work.
<Job-matching services provided by Job Centers (Oct. 2014)>

Program
Frequency
No. of
businesses
No. of
job seekers
No. of successful
job seekers
Total
9,597
10,645
58,848
10,241
Job seeker-employer meeting
1,918
4,577
41,890
6,677
Accompanied interview
4,408
4,678
13,889
2,283
Recruitment services
3,271
1,390
3,069
1,281
48
In addition, Job Centers have consistently improved their employment service programs. As
a result, the number of people employed through Job Centers increased in 2014 compared to
the previous year.
Part 2
<The Number of people employed through Job Centers>
1-1-2. Setting up a comprehensive job information network

Work-Net, a national jobs portal, was set up and operates to help Job Centers provide jobmatching services. Since July 2011, the government has expanded Work-Net by linking it to
other public and private job information networks to create a comprehensive job information
network. The government has also expanded the employment service network by reinforcing the
service infrastructure of Job Centers and in collaboration with local governments and relevant
institutions. Moreover, it completed the work of linking Work-Net to specialized private job
information networks, such as Find Job, Nurse Jobs, Media Jobs and Designer Jobs (May 2014).
In addition to 12 local Work-Nets already in place for metropolitan cities and provinces,
110 new ones were set up for lower-level administrative units, making job information
available across the country (Dec. 2014). The functions of Work-Net were also largely
improved to provide services tailored to each target group. Improvements include creating
Work-Net pages dedicated to decent part-time jobs (Mar. 2014) and small giants (May 2014),
starting mobile Work-Net services for young people (Jun. 2014) and launching services
related to the employment type disclosure system (Jul. 2014).
1-1-3. Employment and welfare plus centers

As various forms of complicated employment services have recently spread across the
private sector, there have been calls for the public sector to provide one-stop services. In
particular, the importance of offering employment and welfare services, which are closely
49
related to people's lives, in an integrated manner has become more apparent. Hence, the
government introduced employment and welfare plus centers, a spatially integrated model in
which different employment and welfare service providers offer their services together in one
place in order to deliver user-oriented services and enhance users' convenience and the
government's administrative efficiency. The first employment and welfare plus center in Korea
was opened up in Namyangju (Jan. 6, 2014) after discussions conducted by relevant central
government agencies (Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Health and Welfare,
Ministry of Security and Public Administration and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family),
local governments (Gyeoggi province and Namyangju city) and private organizations
(Namyangju YWCA and YMCA).
As the Namyangju employment and welfare plus center drew much attention, the National
Economic Advisory Council made a related report (Nov. 28, 2013) and the Social Security
Committee came to a decision to spread employment-welfare centers (Dec. 24, 2013). It was
decided that 10 employment and welfare plus centers would be set up in 2014 after a demand
survey and an on-site review of lower-level administrative units.
Meanwhile, as a result of operating the Namyangju employment-welfare center, it was
found that the spatial integration of employment and welfare services generates synergy. The
number of people visiting the job centers dedicated for women(Sae-il centers) and the local
government-run job center involved in the employment-welfare center rose by 163% and
26%, respectively. Also, the number of people employed through the Job Center, the local
government-run job center and the new job center for women jumped by 123.8% (as of the
end of May 2014). The government will increase the number of employment-welfare centers
from 10 in 2014 to 70 by 2017 while at the same time reinforcing their services by promoting
service linkages and minimizing similar or overlapping services.
1-1-4. Strengthening tailored employment services (Employment Success Package)

As welfare-to-work (workfare) policies that combine welfare policies with active labor
market policies are getting growing attention as policies for the working poor, in 2009, the
government reformed the existing self-reliance program to create a pilot program called
employment support package for low-income people. The program was renamed
employment success package in June 2009.
50
In 2011, according to the plan to streamline government-subsidized jobs programs (Jun.

2010), three subsidized jobs programs for vulnerable groups, that were, the new start project
for youth, the new start project for the aged and the stepping-stone job program, were
integrated into the Employment Success Package Program. The scale up of the program made
it difficult to provide individually customized one-on-one services with Job Center employees
to them on a pilot basis. In 2011, 210 more private agencies were chosen across the country
In 2011, vulnerable groups, such as the homeless, released prisoners (and prisoners due to be
released), non-house dwellers, credit recovery support recipients, at-risk youth, female household
heads and self-employed small business owners, were allowed to participate in the program
without verifying that they meet the income eligibility requirements, thereby further strengthening
employment services for them. In addition, as the employment situation actually felt by young
people worsened and baby boomers started to retire, active labor market policies were needed to
promote the employment of unemployed youths and middle-aged and older people.
In 2013, the scope of beneficiaries was expanded to include those eligible to apply for the
National Happiness Fund, soldiers with technical skills, job leavers from employment
promotion zones, etc. Related infrastructure was also expanded to provide better services, for
example by hiring 4,000 more counselors for the Employment Success Package and
entrusting service delivery to social enterprises.
Thanks to the increased awareness about the program and the relaxation of the program
requirements (Jun. 2012), participation grew evenly among low-income people, youth and
middle-aged and older people in 2013 compared to the previous year with more than
200,000 job seekers receiving support under the program. In particular, the employment rate
and the employment insurance coverage rate among program participants were both high, at
60.1% and 74.3% respectively in May 2014, which suggests that the program has also
achieved qualitative improvement.
51
and the entrustment of services to the private sector began in earnest.
Part 2
alone. So in 2010, the government selected 55 private agencies and entrusted service delivery
2. Life-long vocational competency development based on stages

of the life-cycle
2-1. Life-long vocational competency development in order to realize competencyoriented society
2-1-1. Development and utilization of National Competency Standards
1) Background
It has been suggested that there should be a new HRD infrastructure which systematizes the
knowledge and skills required in industrial sites and applies them to jobs, training/education,
and qualifications to develop and foster the human resources needed by the labor market.
To meed this need, the Economic and Social Development Commission discussed measures
to improve the vocational skills development training system in July 2001, and the Ministry
of Employment and Labor started to develop and apply National Competency Standards
(NCS) in 2001. By the end of the year 2012, standards for 286 occupations are developed.
National Competency Standards refers to competency units, such as the knowledge and
skills workers need to perform their jobs in industrial sites, and the Standards is used as a
basic reference to connect job-education training-qualification by industrial sector.
NCS connects job,

education/training and
qualification with each
other, serving as a key
foundation for human
resources development.
Personnel
management
(company)
Training standards
(education, training)
NCS
Job analysis
Industrial sites (job)
52
Testing standards
(qualification)
2) Future direction
The current government set fostering of the environment to realize competency-oriented
society as one of the national tasks and completed development of the NCS in a prompt
manner to achieve the task, and the government is making efforts for promotion and
Part 2
application of the NCS.
were also newly added and 269 existing standards were improved in 2014. The government is
planning to complete development and improvement of the overall NCS and developing
packages of standards for application in consideration of application of the NCS at workplaces.
The government has also come up with and is implementing the following application
measures with a view to reforming the vocational education/training and qualification
systems based on developed National Competency Standards and promoting the application
of such standards by companies.
First, National Competency Standards reflecting the needs of industry will be applied to
school curricula. To that end, specialized high schools' curricula will be reorganized (pilot
operation in three schools) and the new curriculum model will be spread to other schools.
Second, National Competency Standards will be reflected in vocational training courses. To
that end, new training standards that take account of developed and improved National
Competency Standards will have been completely developed by 2014 and will be used in
public training institutions first.
In the case of private training institutions, the government will give extra points to training
courses reflecting National Competency Standards when it considers approving training
courses in 2013 and 2014. All training courses will be required to reflect National
Competency Standards in 2015 and beyond.
Third, the government will reform the qualification system in line with National
Competency Standards. For instance, it will revamp the national technical qualification test
criteria and redesign the types and grades of national technical qualifications.
53
In 2013, 254 national competency standards were newly developed. In 2014, 288 standards
Fourth, the government is planning to provide support for businesses to reform their HR
management system in order to promote the application of the NCS in businesses and for
workers to help them develop vocational competency throughout life.
2-1-2. Introduction and promotion of the work-study dual system

1) Background and achievement
Apprenticeship refers to all the systems which aim to nurture human resources at
workplaces and the dual system, implemented in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, is
another name for apprenticeship. Apprenticeship started to receive attention because
unemployment rate was much lower in countries with vocational education training system
led by businesses than other countries without the system.
Given that businesses are the one in need of human resources, the government aims to
address problems, including youth unemployment, financial burden on businesses for
retraining, and mismatch between labor supply and demand, by introducing new vocational
education and training system led by businesses. As a part of efforts, the government
introduced the work-study dual system(Korea's apprenticeship training programe) on a pilot
basis from the end of last year and selected 1,000 businesses for its application this year and
aims to increase the number to 10,000 by 2017.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor determined to introduce Korea's work-study dual
system(namely the work-study dual system) at the Ministerial Meeting on the Economy held on Sep.
11. 2013. The Ministry developed and selected 51 businesses for participation in the 1st
project to lay a foundation and started the project on Oct. 24. 2013. Since then, 1,992
businesses have been selected in total over 11 times starting from Jan. 9., Mar. 12., Apr. 10.
On the top of that, the Ministry supported the development of training programs customized
to businesses. From Mar. 2014., 1,254 student workers are engaged in actual training(1~4
years) in 213 businesses which employed student workers among 904 businesses with
training programs fully developed. [as of Nov. 21, 2014]
In order to achieve a long-term plan to increase the number of participating businesses to
10,000 by 2017 from 1,000 in 2014, the government selected 17 industry councils over 2 times
54
(Feb. 24, 2014) from 7 strategic occupations in order to
develop and select participating
businesses,
participate in development of training programs, and
centers, and
grant a role of developing assessment and accreditation tool.
to operate joint training
2) Future direction
painstaking implementation. When introduced without consideration for unique

a failure in many cases. As the work-study dual system is at its early stage of introduction in
Korea, there are improvements to be made for promotion of the system in the future.
Firstly, in the case of Korea, the Vocational Education and Training Promotion Act and the
Workers Vocational Skills Development Act are not enough to embrace and resolve all the legal
issues related to the work-study dual system, meaning new laws need to enacted. Currently, the
Ministry of Employment and Labor is preparing to enact an Act on support for work and study at
workplaces(unofficial yet) (prior announcement of legislation is made between Sep. 30.~Nov.10).
Secondly, along with efforts to increase the number of businesses introducing the workstudy dual system, the government is planning to continuously promote the system
nationwide through regional HRD councils(14), industry councils(16) and by selecting
dedicated agencies under relevant ministries in order to develop and promote exemplary
models, protect student workers and enhance quality management of programs.
Lastly, by developing and nurturing employers' organizations with capability and potential
by industrial sector, the government is planning to develop measures on how to establish
implementation and operation system led by businesses. The Ministry selected(Oct. 2014)
9 pilot project teams of special purpose high schools and businesses in cooperation with the
Ministry of Education and the teams will start operating from the first half of 2015.
55
circumstances and traditions of individual country's labor market, the systems turns out to be
Part 2
Apprenticeship training programe is a very difficult system known for its slow and
2-2. Support for individuals' voluntary participation in training

2-2-1. My Work Learning Card System for job seekers
My Work Learning Card System is a voucher system which provides a certain amount of
money to job seekers and allows them to choose programs and agencies for vocational
training within the given financial limit. The System also enables integrated and
comprehensive management of training history of trainees.
After having counselling at a job center, a card will be issued to a job seeker whose
vocational competency is low. Financial support for one person is 2 million won and validation
date of the card is 1 year. In addition to training costs, the government provides training
encouragement grant, including transportation and food expenses, and, to strengthen
responsibility of a trainee, grant is provided when a trainee passes more than 80% of programs.
In 2013, 230,000 job seekers participated in training and 315.7 billion won was provided.
From 2014, counselling before training is enhanced to make sure only trainees who really need
training participate in the training in order to increase their employment rate and the cost which
needs to be paid on their own account is increased from 25~45% to 30~50% in order to
strengthen their responsibility for participation in training, but they can get a refund for what
they paid when they get a job. However, job seekers from low income households are exempted
from paying on their own account and they are provided up to 3 million won for training.
2-2-2. Training for national key/strategic sectors

This training is intended to foster and supply the skilled and technical workforce needed for
national key or strategic industries, particularly those that suffer from labor shortages. Relevant
training expenses, allowances and expenses for transportation and meals are subsidized. In
2013, a total of 37,673 people were provided with 1.541 trillion KRW in such subsidies.
2-2-3. My Work Learning Card System for workers

Financial support is provided in a form of voucher for people, including workers at SMEs,
non-regular workers, soon-to-be retirees aged over 50, who find it difficult to receive training
56
support from their employers to help them participate in training voluntarily. In 2013, 74.1
billion won is provided for 260,000 workers.
2-2-4. Loans for living costs during vocational training

cover their living costs while receiving vocational skills development training. The purpose
worry about living costs and to find a better job at an earlier time. In 2013, 74.1 billion won is
provided for 260,000 workers.
2-3. Promotion of training support for employers

2-3-1. Training support for workers to be recruited and currently employed workers
When employers conduct training for improvement of workers to be recruited and currently
employed, the government provides financial support for labor costs or employers' training costs
partially. In 2013, 321.3 billion won was provided for 3.28 million workers at 120,000 workplaces.
Training types subject to financial support are collective training, remote training, and workplace
training and more and more trainings are increasingly combined with various training methods such
as smartphone considering IT development and changing learning pattern of workers.
The government increased the limit of subsidy and the amount of support for SMEs in order
to enhance training support of SMEs which are in more need of support from the government
than conglomerates. As of 2014, 120% of fixed amount is provided for SMEs while 50 % of
the amount is given to conglomerates.
2-3-2. Support for the national human resources development consortium

The government provides support for training facility and equipment expenses, labor cost
for trainers, training costs when organizations with excellent training infrastructure, such as
conglomerates, employers' organizations, and universities, establish training consortiums with
affiliated organizations, member businesses, regional SMEs, and conduct training to nurture
57
of such loans is to help these workers to participate in training programs without having to
Part 2
Vulnerable people, such as non-regular workers and the unemployed, may take out a loan to
and improve workers at SMEs in a sprit of cooperation for mutual prosperity between
conglomerates and SMEs. In 2013, 142.5 billion KRW is was provided at 990,000 SMEs.
From 2014, the government is carrying out pilot projects, such as operation of work-study
apprenticeship training center and regional joint training center, in order to support young
people to enter the labor market in a prompt manner and to nurture human resources who
meet the demand of regions and industries by introducing the work-study dual system
which is a Korea's apprenticeship system.
2-3-3. Support for upgrading core job skills for SMEs

The government selects the courses needed to upgrade core job skills for SMEs from
among high-quality training courses offered by private training providers and subsidizes
training expenses and part of labor costs so that SME employers and employees can receive
such training. In 2013, 42,871 people were provided with 19.7 billion KRW in such subsidies.
[The vocational skills development system in Korea]
Support for
employer-funded
skills development
SME-specific program
(support for upgrading core
job skills for SMEs
Training for the

employed
(upgrade training)
My Work Learning Card System
for workers
Vocational
skills
development
Program
Training for the
unemployed
(initial training)
Training for national key &

strategic industries
My Work Learning Card System

for jobseekers
< Local governments >

Public vocational training
(Polytechnic colleges/KUTE)
(training for industrial workforce)
58
Vocational training for the

unemployed in farming &
fishing communities
2-4. Improvement of National Technical Qualification System

2-4-1. Introduction
In Korea, the qualification system offers two types of qualifications: national qualifications
qualifications under the National Technical Qualifications Act and national (specialized)
classified into the following: purely private qualifications, certified private qualifications
officially recognized by the government, and qualifications issued by companies for the
purpose of certifying the skill levels of their workers.
< National and private qualifications by competent authority >

(As of Oct. 31, 2014)
No. of
qualifications
Governing law
Competent authorities
Specific qualifications (e.g.)
Technical
526
National Technical
Qualifications Act
(Ministry of
Employment and
Labor)
Ministry of Employment and

Labor (19 ministries, agencies,
administrations and
commissions)
Professional technician, master

craftsman, engineer, industrial
engineer, craftsman, word
processor, etc.
Specialized
491
(141
occupations)
Individual
laws/regulations
24 ministries, agencies,
administrations and
commissions
Lawyer (under Attorney-At-Law

Act), medical doctor (under
Medical Act), certified labor
affairs consultant, referee,
driver's license, etc.
95
occupations
Framework Act on
Qualifications
(Ministry of
Employment and Labor,
Ministry of Education)
12 ministries, agencies and

administrations(entrusted to
Korea Research Institute for
Vocational Education and
Training)
Credit manager, practical

Chinese characters, Internet
data manager, information
protection professional, etc.
12,181
occupations
Framework Act on
Qualifications (Ministry
of Employment and
Ministry of Education
Labor, Ministry of
Education)
Hospital coordinator, carbon

emission trader, etc.
Employment
Insurance Act
(Ministry of
Employment and
Labor)
Digital master, client counselor,

etc.
Classification
National
qualifications
Publicly
certified
Private
qualifications
Purely
private
Companyissued
113
Ministry of Employment and

Labor
59
qualifications under other individual laws and regulations. Private qualifications can be
Part 2
and private qualifications. National qualifications can be divided into national technical
2-4-2. National Technical Qualification System in Korea

1) Operating mechanism
National technical qualifications are separately managed by 19 ministries, agencies,
administrations, and commissions according to industry where a particular qualification is
required. The Ministry of Employment and Labor plays a coordinating role.
Qualification tests are administered by 8 specialized agencies entrusted by the government.
They include the Human Resources Development Services of Korea, the Korea Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), the Korean
Film Council, the Korea Radio Promotion Agency, the Mine Reclamation Corporation, the
Korea Creative Content Agency, and the Korea Internet and Security Agency.
[Operating Mechanism of National Technical Qualification System]

Ministry of Employment and Labor
(Coordinate the system management)
Run the National Technical Qualification Policy
Advisory Board
Manage related laws and systems
19 competent authorities
(Use the system)
Use as per relevant laws
Take administrative actions such as termination
of a qualification
Testing agencies
(8 agencies including HRD Korea, KCCI,
KINS and the Korean Film Council)
Develop and manage tests
Administer tests and manage qualification holders
2) Grades and types

The national technical qualification system offers a total of 526 qualifications, which can be
broadly divided into technical/skill qualifications and service qualifications.
60
Each technical/skill qualification consists of 5 grades: professional technician, master

craftsman, engineer, industrial engineer, and craftsman. There are certain application
requirements for each grade to allow only those who meet the requirements to take the test.
In the case of service qualifications, there are single-grade qualifications and qualifications
type and grade.
In order to make the national technical qualification system more relevant and useful, the
government formulated and implements the 3rd basic plan to develop the national technical
qualification system (2013-2017). According to the plan, the government has pursued policy
tasks, such as producing quality technical talent tailored to workplace needs, promoting open
employment, social integration and lifelong skills development and advancing the way the
qualification system operates.
3-1) Improved framework for operating the qualification system

First of all, measures have been taken to redefine the role of the national technical qualification
system, establish its relationships with other relevant systems and reinforce the mechanisms for
analyzing and evaluating qualification information. In particular, efforts were made to respond
flexibly to changing industrial needs and to promote the private qualification market.
To this end, the government has continuously upgraded national technical qualifications by
introducing new qualifications and merging or abolishing existing qualifications to reflect
changing industrial needs. And the operating mechanism has been improved by reforming the
application requirements, classification system and exemption scheme.
Especially in 2010, the classification system, which had failed to reflect occupational and
industrial changes and remained the same for about 30 years since the establishment of the
National Technical Qualification Act, was reorganized in line with KECO (Korean Employment
Classification of Occupation), thereby laying the groundwork for being able to operate the
national technical qualification system in a way to keep up with the current state of occupations.
61
3) Current status on implementation of the national technical qualification system
Part 2
consisting of 1~3 grades. Application requirements are different depending on qualification
3-2) Enhanced relevance of qualification tests

To make qualification tests more relevant, the government is making efforts to guarantee the
adequacy of qualification tests, expand related infrastructure, build the quality management
system for testing agencies and improve the quality of qualification testing services.
More specifically, with a view to improving the quality of qualification tests, the
government has entrusted more tests to the private sector. As a result, the number of entrusted
private testing agencies rose from 2 in 2007 to 8 in 2010.
In addition, the government is developing various assessment methods* focused on one's
problem-solving skills at workplaces by improving assessment methods on practical tests of
the national technical qualification system based on the National Competency Standards(NCS)
which is under development.
* assessment methods suitable for characteristics of each occupation are developed using assessment methods of 7
categories based on descriptions for required competency of the NCS (Assessment methods on practical tests are
developed for 39 occupations in 2014.
The government is supporting the promotion of qualifications within businesses' which are
certified by the government as technical qualifications the most closely related to worker's
vocational competency development among private qualifications.
62
IV
Building a Close-Knit Employment Safety Net
The Employment Insurance (EI) System of Korea was introduced on July 1, 1995 to
prevent joblessness, promote employment and improve workers' vocational skills. It is also
aimed at stabilizing workers' livelihoods and supporting their early reemployment by paying
benefits needed for living if they lose their jobs. EI is a comprehensive labor market policy
and a social security system including the employment security and vocational skills
development programs aimed at preventing unemployment and promoting employment as
well as the traditional unemployment insurance program providing unemployment benefits.
1-2. Employment insurance coverage

1-2-1. EI-covered businesses
Since October 1998, all workplaces with one or more employees have been subject to the
Employment Insurance System. Excluded from coverage are unincorporated businesses with
four employees or fewer in the agricultural, forestry, fishery and hunting industries;
construction projects conducted by individuals whose total construction cost is less than 20
million KRW; construction projects which are undertaken to construct or renovate on a large
scale a building with a total floor area of 100
or less; and housekeeping services.
63
1-1. Introduction
Part 2
1. Strengthening employment insurance's roles and functions as a

social safety net
<Expansion of EI coverage>
General businesses
(based on no. of ordinarily employed workers)
No. of projects
Unemployment
benefits
~ 98
Jan 1 98~ Mar 1 98~ Jul 1 98~
30 or more 10 or more
Oct 1 98~
Construction work
(based on total construction cost in million KRW)
~Jul 1 98 ~Dec 31 03 Jan 1 04~ Jan 1 05~
5 or more
Employment
security vocational 70 or more 50 or more 50 or more
skills development
5 or more
1 or more
3,400 or
more
340 or
more
20 or
more
all
undertaken
by licensed
constructors
1-2-2. Workers excluded from EI

In principle, EI should apply to all workers at businesses covered by EI. However, due to
difficulties in managing insurance work and/or unique occupational characteristics, the
following people are excluded from EI coverage: people who are employed or start up their
own businesses after the age of 65 or over (except for employment security and vocational
skills development programs); people whose monthly working hours are less than 60 hours
(including those whose weekly working hours are less than 15 hours); public officials
(optional coverage for special and contract public officials); and so on.
1-3. Addressing the blind spot not covered by social insurance

1-3-1. EI coverage for the self-employed
The proportion of self-employed people in Korea is relatively high compared to other
countries, while many of them are suffering from low productivity and weak competitiveness.
And an increasing number of self-employed people shut down their businesses in the wake of
the global financial crisis, which increased concerns about heavier social burdens and weaker
growth potential across the economy.
This led to a growing consensus on the need to build a social safety net which would help
self-employed people to get reemployed or start a new business in the case of business
closure. Thus, amendments to the Employment Insurance Act and the Act on the Collection
64
of Premiums, etc., of Employment Insurance and Industrial Accident Compensation

Insurance, which would allow self-employed people to opt into the unemployment benefit
program, were passed by the National Assembly, and EI (unemployment benefits) for selfemployed people took effect on January 22, 2012.
insurance within six months after the business opening date specified on his/her business
standard remuneration. A self-employed person should select one standard remuneration
amount and then sign up, and may change his/her standard remuneration amount in the middle
of his/her insured period. The insurance premium rate is 2.25% of the selected standard
remuneration. In case of involuntary business closure, he/she can receive unemployment
benefits amounting to 50% of the standard remuneration for a prescribed benefit period.
1-3-2. Social insurance subsidy program for low-paid workers in small workplaces
Under the social insurance subsidy program for low-paid workers, the State pays up to 50% of
insurance premiums or pension contributions under the employment insurance and national
pension schemes that have the lowest coverage rate and largest blind spot among the four social
insurance schemes employers and workers are required to make contributions toward. Among
workers employed in workplaces with fewer than 10 employees, those earning an average of
less than 1.35 million KRW a month and their employers are eligible for this subsidy.
In 2014, in an effort to realign local consultative bodies which play the pivotal role in
promoting social insurance enrollment at the field level and to offer outreach enrollment
services, 579 enrollment service agents were deployed across workplaces. They informed
workers and employers of the program and provided enrollment services, such as assisting
with insurance subsidy applications.
Meanwhile, the government conducted the project to cooperate in increasing social insurance
enrollment with organizations that often come into direct contact with workers and employers at
the field level. It promoted insurance enrollment among the member companies of those
organizations by providing information, education, enrollment counseling, etc., to them. As a
result of various promotion activities, the number of people applying for the insurance subsidy
65
registration certificate. There are five different insurance premiums depending on announced
Part 2
To receive unemployment benefits, a self-employed person should sign up for employment
has steadily increased since the introduction of the program. As of the end of October 2014,
1,434,000 workers in 724,000 workplaces had benefited from employment insurance subsidies.
An analysis of subsidy payments reveals that subsidy payments are concentrated among
workplaces with fewer than five employees, women, newly enrolled young people and the
service sector that are characterized by low social insurance coverage and plenty of informal
employment. This implies that the social insurance subsidy program helps to reinforce the
social safety net for workers in vulnerable industries and vulnerable groups that can easily be
excluded from social protection.
To ensure that more low-paid workers in small workplaces can enjoy the benefits of social
insurance, the government will spread positive perceptions of social insurance through
enhanced central-and local-level publicity activities and actively discover workplaces not
covered by social insurance through information-sharing among relevant institutions.
1-4. Unemployment benefits as a social safety net

Unemployment benefits are paid for a given period of time to promote the reemployment of the
unemployed by stabilizing the livelihoods of the unemployed and their families and systematically
providing them with information on job vacancies. Unemployment benefits are mainly composed
of job-seeking benefits, extended benefits and employment promotion allowances.
1-4-1. Job-seeking benefits

To be eligible for job-seeking benefits, a worker should be insured for at least 180 days during
the 18 months prior to leaving his/her job at a covered business. The benefit duration varies
from 90 to 240 days depending on the contribution period and age at the time of job loss.
An unemployed person is eligible for job-seeking benefits only if he/she has complied with
the mutual obligation of work search and shows up at a public employment service agency to
verify his/her compliance. Since March 2011, a new system has been implemented under
which those able to work may send documented evidence to a public employment service
agency via the Internet, instead of making a visit in person.
66
The amount of job-seeking benefits is 50% of the previous average wage. In order to
narrow the gap in benefit amount and ensure fairness between workers, the lower limit is set
at 90% of the minimum wage while the upper limit of daily benefits is 40,000 KRW.
Eligibility requirements
Benefit level
Part 2
The person should be insured for at least

180 days during the 18 months prior to
unemployment at an EI-covered workplace;
50% of the previous average wage

- max/day : 40,000 KRW
- min/day : 90% of the hourly minimum wage
Benefit duration
Age
voluntary unemployment and dismissal

due to one's serious faults are excluded.
The person is actively seeking
reemployment.
(No. of days)
Insured period less than

1~ less
3~ less
5~ less
10 yrs or
1 yr
than 3 yrs than 5 yrs than 10 yrs
more
younger than 30
90
90
120
150
180
30~younger than 50
90
120
150
180
210
50 or older or the disabled
90
150
180
210
240
In case where an eligible person is unable to work for 7 days or longer due to disease, injury
or childbirth, he/she can receive the 'injury-disease benefit' in lieu of the job-seeking benefit.
Job-seeking benefit payments reached their highest level in 2009 due to the global financial crisis
of 2008. However, the number of benefit recipients started to fall in 2010 thanks to the economy
recovery. The amount of benefits paid was also in decline, but went up in 2012. In 2013, 3,608,089
million KRW (up 5.2% from a year ago) was paid to 1,145,845 people (up 1.7% from a year ago).
(Persons, million KRW)
2011
Job-seeking benefit
2012
2013
No. of
beneficiaries
Amount paid
No. of
beneficiaries
Amount paid
No. of
beneficiaries
Amount paid
1,142,053
3,333,152
1,127,013
3,429,037
1,145,845
3,608,089
1-4-2. Extended benefits

Extended benefits are classified into the following categories: benefits for extended
training, individual extended benefits and special extended benefits.
67
The person has failed to gain employment

although he/she is willing and able to work;
and
Benefits for extended training are offered to people who are deemed able to find work again
easily by the head of a public employment service agency if they receive vocational skills
development training. Such individuals are ordered to receive training and can receive 100% of jobseeking benefits for an extended period of up to two years during which they receive the training.
Individual extended benefits are offered to people who, even after having been referred to
job vacancies three or more times by a public employment service agency, fail to gain
employment and are considered needy. They can receive 70% of job-seeking benefits for an
extended period of 60 days.
Special extended benefits are offered to people who are deemed to have difficulty in getting
reemployed due to a sudden rise in unemployment, etc., and whose unemployment benefit
period has expired, during a period designated by the Minister of Employment and Labor. They
can receive 70% of job-seeking benefits for an extended period of up to 60 days. Such benefits
were provided three times during the economic crisis of 1998, but have not been offered since.
1-4-3. Employment promotion allowances

The employment promotion allowance was introduced as an incentive to encourage jobseeking benefit recipients to find reemployment early through active job-seeking activities. It
can be classified into early reemployment allowance, wide-area job-seeking allowance and
moving allowance. Most employment promotion allowances are paid in the form of an early
reemployment allowance. The early reemployment allowance is offered to job-seeking
benefit recipients who find stable work before the end of their job-seeking benefit duration.
They are paid a certain amount of allowance as an incentive. This allowance is designed to
promote early reemployment through active job-seeking activities.
Sweeping changes were made to the system in February 2010. Under the reformed system,
allowances which were paid at differential rates (1/3~1/2) based on the time of reemployment
are paid at the same single rate corresponding to 1/2 of the remaining benefit days (2/3 for the
disabled and those aged 55 and over). And no allowance is paid to those in a waiting period
or with fewer than 30 benefit days left. The government paid 259,631 million KRW in 2013,
a 10.8% increase from the previous year.
68
2. Employment security program to retain or create employment

The employment security program is in place to guarantee job security for workers in response
to technological advances and changes in the industrial structure while providing reasonable
support for employers' employment adjustment. Unlike unemployment benefits, this program is
Part 2
an active labor market policy to cope actively with changing labor market conditions.
creation support, employment retention subsidy, employment promotion support, etc. Thanks
to the restructuring efforts that took place in 2010, the program is now more efficiently
managed and puts greater emphasis on vulnerable groups of people.
The employment creation support program is intended to expand employment opportunities
by changing work arrangements-for example by reforming shift work schemes and reducing
working hours-and improving employment environments and to increase businesses'
competitiveness and job-creation capacity by providing workforce support to promising
startups and supporting the employment of professional workers. The program, on which
mandatory spending was required if the legal requirements were met, has been reclassified as
a discretionary spending program since 2011. Accordingly, the program was reformed to
prevent deadweight loss and rigidity and provide support flexibly according to changing
economic and labor market conditions. The reformed program has been in force since then.
The employment retention subsidy is offered to an employer who needs to adjust employment
for reasons of economic recession or difficult business conditions. If the employer takes job
retention measures, such as temporary business shutdown, employee training, leave of absence
or workforce reallocation, the government subsidizes the wages (2/3~3/4 of the employer-paid
wages) and training costs to prevent dismissal of skilled workers.
<Payment of employment retention subsidy by year>
2011
Yearly total
2012
No. of
cases
No. of
beneficiaries
Subsidy
amount
No. of
cases
No. of
beneficiaries
2,157
31,541
25,932
1,721
37,141
Oct. 2013
Subsidy
amount
No. of
cases
No. of
beneficiaries
Subsidy
amount
33,643
1,226
23,315
20,003
69
The employment security program, introduced in 1995, mainly consists of employment
The employment promotion support program is aimed at facilitating the employment of those
facing particular difficulties in finding work under normal labor market conditions, including the
aged, the long-term unemployed and women. In 2011, the new employment promotion grant,
which had some side effects, such as perfunctory job placement, deadweight loss and unnecessary
employment, was upgraded and renamed as employment promotion subsidy. Employers may
receive the subsidy if they hire those who register themselves as job seekers and participate in the
employment support programs recognized by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
[Employment Insurance in Korea]
Employment
security
vocational
skills
development
programs
Employment creation support
Employment creation support program

Employment promotion subsidy
Support for youth internships in SMEs
Support for locally tailored job creation
Employment adjustment support
Employment retention subsidy

Support for workers on unpaid leave due to temporary shutdown or layoff
Support for employment promotion

facilities
Subsidy for establishment and operation of workplace childcare facilities

Employment support for vulnerable groups
Employment and career support program for youth
Skills development support for

workers and the unemployed
Skills development support for workers

Skills development support for the unemployed with previous job experience
Loan for living costs during vocational training
Support for employer-provided skills

development programs
Subsidy for employer-funded vocational training

Support for upgrading core job skills for SMEs
Support for consortium for HRD ability magnified program
Support for industry-tailored HRD
Unemployment
benefit
program
70
Training for national key/strategic industries

Work-Study Dual System/support for building infrastructure for
vocational skills development
Support for skills development programs at Korea Polytechnics
Support for skills development programs at Korea University of
Technology and Education
Employment promotion support

for the aged and women
Subsidy for extended employment of the aged

Subsidy for wage peak system
Subsidy for employment security for women after childbirth and during child care
Job-seeking benefit
Job-seeking benefit
Injury-disease benefit
Extended benefit (training, individual, special)
Employment promotion allowance
Early reemployment allowance

Vocational skills development allowance
Wide-are job-seeking allowance
Moving allowance
Maternity protection &

childcare support
Maternity(miscarriage stillbirth) leave benefit

Childcare leave benefit
Benefit for reduced working hours for child care
Part. 3
Protection of Working Conditions and
Promotion of Workers' Welfare
Overview
The Labor Standards Act (LSA) in Korea provides for working conditions, such as wages, working
hours, holidays and leave, which are applicable to the employment relationship, and thereby lays
down the legal framework for guaranteeing and promoting workers' basic livelihoods. The statutory
working conditions specified in the LSA are minimum standards that should not be degraded in any
case. That is, in the event that an employment contract sets forth working conditions that fall short of
the statutory standards, the contractual provisions specifying those working conditions will be
considered invalid and replaced by the corresponding legal standards. In principle, the LSA applies
to all businesses or workplaces with at least five ordinarily-employed workers. However, some of its
provisions (weekly holiday, recess hours, wages, dismissal notice, retirement pay, etc.) are not
applied to businesses or workplaces with four or fewer ordinarily-employed workers in consideration
of their ability to observe the law, economic conditions, etc. In order to enforce the standard working
conditions prescribed by the law, a total of 1,477 labor inspectors (as of the end of Oct. 2014)
empowered to enforce the law are working in the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL).
As of August 2014, there were 6,070,000 non-regular workers, accounting for 32.4% of all
wage earners. The Act on the Protection, etc., of Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employees and the
Act on the Protection, etc., of Dispatched Workers are in force to remove discrimination against
non-regular workers and protect their working conditions. The government is taking measures
to protect non-regular workers, such as reinforcing the social safety net for non-regular workers
and strengthening the inspection of workplaces employing non-regular workers.
Moreover, with a view to promoting the welfare of workers, the government is providing
support for employee welfare facilities, livelihood security loans, credit guarantee support,
etc. As a corporate welfare measure, the Employee Stock Ownership Plan is implemented,
which allows workers to acquire their companies' shares, thereby enabling them to
accumulate wealth and contribute to labor-management cooperation. The government is also
operating the Employee Welfare Fund System which requires employers to contribute a
portion of their company's operating profits to a fund and use it for employee welfare.
In addition, the government is operating the Retirement Pension System which requires
employers to set aside an equivalent amount of retirement pay in a financial institution outside
of the company so that their employees can receive pensions in the form of an annuity or a
lump-sum payment upon retirement.
72
III
Addressing
the&Practice
of long
workingMeasures
hours and
Employment
Industrial
Relations
Improving the Ordinary Wage System
1. Improvement of the working hour system

1-1. Reduction of statutory working hours
in 1989, and phased in the 40 hour working week according to enterprise size starting from 2004.
As a result, the application of the 40 hour working week was extended to workplaces with five or
fewer than five employees are excluded from the statutory working hours anyway, it can be said
that the task of institutionally reducing the statutory working hours was virtually finished.
On June 8, 2010, after one year of discussion, the working hour and wage system
improvement committee of the Economic and Social Development Commission (ESDC)
reached an agreement to reduce the average annual hours worked to 1,800 hours by 2020 with
the aim of removing the practice of long working hours and creating a productive work culture.
Based on this tripartite agreement, MOEL came up with the comprehensive measures to improve
the practice of long working hours in December 2010, and has pushed ahead with those measures,
including institutional reforms, guidance and inspection and support for SMEs, since 2011.
1-2. Other institutional improvements related to working hours

In a bid to promote the annual leave system, the LSA was revised to require employers to
encourage the use of annual leave six months, instead of the previously stipulated three
months, before workers' right to ask for such leave becomes extinguished, and to grant one
day of annual leave for each month of uninterrupted service even to workers who have
achieved less than 80% attendance over a one-year period (effective since Aug. 2, 2012).
Part. 3 Protection of Working Conditions and Promotion of Workers' Welfare
73

more employees but less than 20 employees in July 2011. Considering that workplaces with
Part 3
The government reduced the statutory working hours from 48 hours a week to 44 hours a week
Meanwhile, the ESDC launched the committee on reduction of actual hours worked on
March 6, 2012 to come up with a concrete action plan to implement the tripartite agreement
to reduce hours worked to 1,800 hours by 2020 (2010). The committee put high on its agenda
discussions on improvement measures, such as reducing extended work, spreading flexible
work arrangements, reforming shift work, and promoting the use of leave. After gathering
opinions from workplaces and holding various in-depth discussions between labor and
management for about one year, the committee found consensus on the need to reduce actual
hours worked, and could narrow the differences of opinion between labor and management
somewhat. However, the employers' and workers' representatives on the committee failed to
reach an agreement due to their persistent differences over some institutional reforms, and the
public interest members proposed a recommendation instead on April 4, 2013.
[Public interest members' recommendation for reduction of actual hours worked]
Holiday work should be included in the scope of extended work. However, this should be phased in
according to enterprise size, and accompanied by a higher limit on extended work, which applies in
exceptional cases if certain requirements are met.
The unit period applicable under the flexible worktime system should be lengthened and measures,
including the working time savings account scheme, should be taken to make working hours more flexible.
Employers and workers should make efforts to change their shift work schedules into ones that are
more humane and diverse than a day-night 2-shift work schedule, and the government should provide
comprehensive support for such efforts.
Employers and workers should make efforts to promote the use of holidays and leave, and the government
should conduct inspections to find violations of laws and come up with proper support measures.
Workers should cooperate in increasing productivity in order to preserve their incomes and
businesses should strive to preserve workers' incomes to the extent that they can expand facility
investment and increase productivity.
Other measures, such as those to remove the blind spot excluded from the provisions on working
hours, to make working hours more flexible and to create more decent part-time jobs, should continue
to be discussed through a future consultative body.
74
Based on that recommendation, the government held meetings with the CEOs of SMEs
(January~February 2014) and with workers' and employers' representatives (October 2014) to
seek practical measures for labor, management and the government to address the practice of
long working hours. Furthermore, the government conducted fact-finding surveys on workers'
views on reduction of working hours and the effects of reduced working hours on businesses.
1-3. Guidance and inspection activities for workplaces with long working hours
workers work long hours. regional employment and labor offices across the country regularly
schedules, for violation of the law, and actively supported businesses' voluntary efforts to address
long working hours by utilizing the Korea Labor Foundation's consulting services (consulting
was recommended to 34 workplaces, and 19 workplaces were selected as consulting recipients).
Last year, the government carried out inspections for long working hours in manufacturing
businesses and others where the practice of long working hours is prevalent. Employers that violated
provisions on working hours newly hired 1,010 workers in an effort to correct their violation.
1-4. Enhanced support for SMEs reducing long working hours

The government has also strengthened its support for SMEs which reduce their long working
hours. SMEs were offered various consulting services suited to their circumstances through the
Korea Labor Foundation with regard to reforming shift work, promoting the use of leave and
introducing flexible working time arrangements (187 workplaces in 2013 and 187 by the end
of Oct. 2014). Many successful cases of reducing long working hours were created as a result.
75

inspected workplaces with long working hours, including those with day-night 2-shift work
Part 3
The government has strengthened its guidance and inspection activities for workplaces where
examples of improvement
effects of improvement
S&S TECH Co., Ltd.

(Dalseo-gu, Daegu, manufacturing, 146 workers)
changed the 2-team 2-shift schedule into a 3team 2-shift schedule
new hires (20 people) and higher productivity
(8.79% rise in the operatation rate)
IQUEST Co., Ltd.

(Guro-gu, Seoul, software development, 108 workers)
built a work-life balance culture by introducing
a compensatory leave system and a flexible
working system, including a system that
allows workers to choose the time to come to
work and leave
9 new hires
Moreover, for SMEs which not only reduce working hours but also hire new employees
through shift work reforms, etc., the job-sharing subsidy was expanded in terms of both
amount and duration (amount: 7.2 million KRW
year
10.8 million KRW a year, duration: 1
2 years). A total of 2,769 people in 2013 and 2,014 in 2014 (as of the end of Oct.)
were approved to receive, or received, this subsidy. In addition, in 2014, the government will
increase support for the cost of hiring new employees and introduce new support to cover the
costs of investing in facilities and preserving the wages of existing employees, thereby
intensively helping enterprises with the process of reducing long working hours.
1-5. Improvement of social perception and creation of national consensus

Since 2012, MOEL has publicized its project called create a hopeful workplace through
TV, radio and special articles all year round, and published a best practice casebook for
reducing working hours and distributed its copies to workplaces.
76
It has also developed and operated educational programs designed to teach corporate CEOs,
personnel managers and union officials about the necessity of improving the practice of long
working hours and specific ways to do so.
2. Improving the Ordinary Wage System

Part 3
2-1. Background
items, some wage items had discrepancies between their names and what they really are. This
caused and increased differences between the judicial and administrative interpretation of the
scope of ordinary wages. Since the court's ruling that regular bonuses constitute ordinary wages in
March 2013, the labor-management conflict over the scope of ordinary wages has been growing.
2-2. Progress
The government made several attempts to improve the wage system, establishing the
committeee on the reform of labor-management relations (1997); however, with a large
difference in views between labor and management, the government has failed to reach a
concrete agreement and implement wage system reform. The controversy over the scope of
ordinary wages broke out after the Supreme Court's ruling in March 2013. In response, the
MOEL proposed establishing a tripartite committee in May 2013 to promote discussions on
ordinary wages. To get feedback on ordinary wages from experts in various fields, including
labor and management, and promote discussion on ordinary wages and wage structure issues,
the MOEL formed a committee on wage system improvement , a consultative body for the
Minister of Employment and Labor, on June 21, 2013.
As the controversy over ordinary wages became more intense, the Supreme Court referred to
the full bench two cases on August 5, 2013 and made its ruling on December 18, 2013 after a
public trial. The full bench decision clearly set the definition of ordinary wages and judgement
criteria for compensation for prescribed work, regularity, uniformity and fixedness.
77

With no clear definition of ordinary wages in the law and the growing complexity of wage
After the ruling by the full bench, requests for interpretation of the new ordinary wages
flood in from the field. With practical difficulties legislating immediately, in an effort to
prevent any chaos in a transitional period before legislation, the government had several
meetings with experts and established Guidelines on Ordinary Wages (January 23, 2014),
which fully reflected the decision by the full bench, after getting feedback from workers' and
employers' organizations. The Guidelines was distributed to regional employment and
labor fffices at a national conference of directors in charge of work improvement guidance
(presided over by the Minister). Based on the full bench decision, the Guidelines suggests a
shift toward a simplified wage structure and a wage system based on jobs and competency as
the direction of ordinary wage reform.
Furthermore, with the goal of supporting autonomous efforts by labor and management to
improve wage structures and rationalize wage systems, each regional employment and labor offices
formed a support group for reform of the wage system and working hours (474 people in total) on
February 7, 2014, and gave presentations to workplaces within its jurisdiction and arranged
meetings between labor and management. Such efforts, however, did not lead to legislation due to
disagreement between labor and management on the details of implementation plans.
2-3. Future Plan

In order to help labor and management improve wage structures and rationalize wage systems
autonomously, the government plans to keep providing support, such as consulting services by
the support group for reform of the wage system and working hours. The government also plans
to build up networks of wage experts, the regional headquarters of workers' and employers'
organizations, and HR/labor affairs managers at companies, and link the networks to regional
projects jointly performed by labor, management, civil society and the government in order to
promote discussion on wage system reform at the regional level and autonomous efforts by
labor and management to improve wage systems. Furthermore, the government has provided
consulting services through the Korea Labor Foundation for wage and job system reform and
plans to offer wage system models and best practices based on the types of businesses.
78
I
III
Minimum
Wage
andRelations
Establishment
of Basic
Employment
& System
Industrial
Measures
Employment Conditions
1. Minimum Wage System

1-1. Current Status
employers are forced by law to pay workers no less than the minimum wage determined and
announced by the government, thereby guaranteeing a minimum livelihood for workers.
employed worker or more. However, 90% of the hourly minimum wage rate may be applied
and 100% of the hourly minimum wage will be applied starting 2015 to workers on probation
for up to three months after employment (excluding fixed-term workers on a less than oneyear contract) and workers engaged in surveillance or intermittent work with the approval of
the Minister of Employment and Labor. Workers with disabilities may be excluded from the
application of the minimum wage with the approval of the Minister of Employment and Labor.
The Minimum Wage Council deliberates and decides on a minimum wage proposal and
then submits it to the government. The minimum wage rate for 2014 is 5,210 KRW per hour
or 41,680 KRW per day (8-hour day).
<Minimum wage rate by year>

[in KRW]
Year
2004.9
~
2005.8
2005.9
~
2006.12
2007.1
~
2007.12
2008.1
~
2008.12
2009.1
~
2009.12
2010.1
~
2010.12
2011.1
~
2011.12
2012.1
~
2012.12
2013.1
~
2013.12
2014.1
~
2014.12
Hourly rate
2,840
3,100
3,480
3,770
4,000
4,110
4,320
4,580
4,860
5,210
Daily rate
22,720
24,800
27,840
30,160
32,000
32,880
34,560
36,640
38,880
41,680
79

The minimum wage applies to all workers employed in workplaces with one ordinarily-
Part 3
The minimum wage system, implemented since January 1, 1988, is a system under which
1-2. Efforts to ensure compliance with minimum wage

1-2-1. Activities of working condition cops for youths
Since 2010, the government has appointed general citizens as working condition cops in
an effort to protect the rights of vulnerable workers and spread the atmosphere of minimumwage compliance. They have carried out the activities of finding workplaces which fail to
comply with the minimum wage and publicizing the minimum wage system. MOEL's 47
local employment and labor offices directly selected such cops in 2013. As a result of their
activities (since Feb. 2014), they had detected 693 workplaces which violated, or were
suspected of violating, the minimum wage, and conducted publicity activities in 46,411
workplaces by August 2014. In 2013, minimum wage cop was renamed working condition
cop for youth, and those civilian cops performed their duties throughout the year.
1-2-2. Guidance and inspection to find violations of the Minimum Wage Act
By September 2014, the government had inspected 11,610 workplaces employing a large
number of non-regular workers and young people, including those found by civilian cops and
reported through the cyber reporting center. As a result, 1,173 workplaces and 1,228 cases were
found to have paid less than the minimum wage. They were ordered to correct their violations,
but 14 cases failed too comply with the corrective order and so were judicially treated.
1-2-3. Publicity activities and campaigns to encourage minimum-wage compliance

After the 2014 minimum wage was confirmed and announced on August 4, 2014,
MOELs 47 local employment and labor offices around the country held meetings with
employers and information sessions, developed PR leaflets and flyers and distributed them
mainly to vulnerable workplaces.
At a meeting with the CEOs of franchises in November 2014, the Minister of the Ministry of
Employment and Labor said that the Ministry would continue to provide support to promote bestpractice sharing and compliance with basic employment conditions, including the minimum wage.
80
1-2-4. Efforts to Improve the Minimum Wage System

When an employer violates the minimum wage, the government issues a corrective order to
address the violation; and penalties, including fines, are rarely imposed on minimum wage
violations, so measures against minimum wage violations are insufficient. Under the
circumstances, the government came up with a system in which sanctions get stricter
gradually: a fine is immediately imposed on a workplace that has intentionally or repeatedly
violated the minimum wage; the amount of fine is reduced when the employer corrects the
violation; and judicial action is taken if the violation continues. The government aims to
Part 3
legislate with the goal of enforcing the system starting 2015.

2. Strengthening efforts to prevent and clear up overdue wages

and related support for workers
2-1. Related administrative innovations and their implementation
In 2013, the government disclosed the list of employers who had habitually delayed the
payment of workers' wages, and imposed credit sanctions on employers for failing to pay
wages, thereby strengthening the prevention of wage delays and related financial punishment.
Employers subject to disclosure refer to those who delayed the payment of wages, etc., and
were convicted for such delays twice or more within three years before the reference date,
and owed workers 30 million KRW or more in unpaid wages within one year before the
reference date. Information on those employers, including their names, ages, company names
and addresses and details of overdue wages, are made public for three years on an official
gazette, the relevant website and bulletin boards in local authorities.
Credit sanctions are imposed on employers who were convicted at least twice of late payment
of wages within three years before the reference date and failed to pay 20 million won or more
in overdue wages within a year before the reference date. The government provides the Korea
Federation of Banks with the personal data of employers subject to credit sanctions and the
amounts of overdue wages to ensure that they are considered in credit evaluations.
81
2-2. Remedy Support Team

With more diverse and complex labor dispute issues, such as illegal dispatch and the scope
of employees, the demand has grown for professionals with legal expertise, and knowledge
and experience of overall labor relations, who can deal with labor dispute cases. In response,
the MOEL established the labor dispute settlement support team composed of lawyers and
certified labor affairs consultants in October 2012 to provide consulting services for unfair
dismissals and discrimination as well as specialized services on administrative trials and
litigations. In February 2014, the MOEL reformed the team and changed its name into
theremedy support team, increasing its roles by adding private mediators in charge of
specialized consulting and mediation services for overdue wages.
From February to August this year, the remedy support team provided mediation services in
12,171 cases, including overdue wage cases, and consulting services in 58,629 cases, as well
as professional support in 975 remedy cases, 186 administrative trials and 190 administrative
litigations. In doing so, the team has contributed to enhancing labor inspection administrative
capabilities through comprehensive consulting services for disadvantaged workers on labor
disputes and legal reviews of major contentious cases.
2-3. Stronger support for workers with unpaid wages

The government raised the maximum monthly limit on substitute payments which are made
to workers who are owed wages, etc., after retirement due to corporate bankruptcy. By the
end of October 2014, a total of 631,438 workers had received a combined total of 2.6522
trillion KRW in substitute payments.
Through the free legal aid service program, started on July 1, 2005, which provides free-ofcharge legal assistance to workers in taking civil proceedings in relation to overdue wages,
511,608 workers had received free legal aid services by the end of October 2014.
Again in 2014, intensive guidance was provided during national holidays to ensure that
employers pay off overdue wages. And remedy support team, composed of lawyers and
certified labor affairs consultants, were set up in 40 local employment and labor offices to
82
protect workers rights and interests by providing legal advice and conducting legal
proceedings. The government will further strengthen its efforts to remedy breaches of
workers' right to claim overdue wages by continuing to make substitute payments and
provide free legal aid services to them.
Part 3
83
I
IV
Non-regular
Employment
Security
and
EmploymentWorkers'
& Industrial
Relations
Measures
Addressing Discrimination
1. Non-regular employment in Korea

As of August 2014, non-regular workers numbered 6,077,000 in total, which accounted for 32.4%
of all wage workers in Korea. The number of non-regular workers has fluctuated since March 2009.
The proportion of non-regular workers among all wage workers has stayed at around 32~34%.
<Trend in non-regular employment>
(in 10,000 persons, %)
2. Employment security for non-regular workers and protection of

their working conditions
The Act on the Protection, etc., of Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employees (hereinafter
referred to as Fixed-Term Workers Act) was established (and took effect in July 2007) to
prevent the abuse of fixed-term workers and ensure their employment security. Under this
Act which limits the employment period of fixed-term workers to a maximum of two years, if
an employer has employed fixed-term workers for more than two years, the workers should
be considered, in principle, as workers on an open-ended contract unless there is an
exceptional reason not to do so. The Act also provides for the discrimination correction
system which allows fixed-term workers (or part-time workers) to seek redress for
discrimination through the Labor Relations Commission if they are discriminated against in
84
terms of wages or other working conditions compared to open-ended contract workers (or
regular workers) engaged in the same or similar work in the same business or workplace just
on the ground of their employment status.
In an effort to protect non-regular workers' working conditions, the overtime work of parttime workers is limited to less than 12 hours per week, thereby protecting them from long
hours of work. When signing a contract with a fixed-term or part-time worker, the employer
is required to set out, in writing, major working conditions, including the contract term,
At present, the Act on the Protection, etc., of Dispatched Workers (hereinafter referred to as
dispatched workers) in 32 occupational areas (197 jobs in subclasses of the Korean Standard
Occupational Classification). However, if a job vacancy occurs due to childbirth, sickness or
injury, or there is a temporary or intermittent need for workers, temporary agency workers
may be used, except for the ten prohibited occupations, such as jobs in the construction sector
and harmful or hazardous jobs. The maximum period during which a temporary agency
worker can be employed is two years. An using employer is obligated to directly employ
his/her temporary agency worker if the worker is employed in excess of two years. In the
event of a job vacancy due to childbirth, sickness or injury, the employer may use a
temporary agency worker for as long as needed for the cause of the vacancy to cease to exist.
In the case of a temporary or intermittent need for workers, temporary agency workers may
be used for up to six months. Employers using temporary agency workers are banned from
discriminating against those workers in terms of wages and other working conditions
compared with workers directly employed by them and engaged in the same or similar work
in their business simply on the ground that they are temporary agency workers.
3. Establishment and implementation of comprehensive measures

for non-regular workers
The government mapped out the comprehensive measures for non-regular workers (Sept.
9, 2011) with a focus on rectifying unreasonable discrimination against non-regular workers
85

Dispatched Workers Act) allows employers to use temporary agency workers (i.e.
Part 3
working hours, place of work and wages.
and reinforcing the social safety net for vulnerable groups. In order to implement those
measures, the government is taking follow-up measures, including revising relevant laws and
regulations, drawing up measures to improve non-regular employment in the public sector
and guidelines for addressing discrimination by employment type and conducting the
project to remove the blind spot outside the coverage of social insurance.
In particular, the Fixed-Term Workers Act and the Dispatched Workers Act were revised to give
labor inspectors the authority to check whether there is discrimination in the workplace, even
without being requested to do so by workers, and get rid of discrimination against a large number
of workers all at once; and to extend the time limit for requesting redress for discrimination from 3
to 6 months in order to promote the discrimination correction system. Keeping in step with these
institutional improvements, the government also conducted intensive inspections of workplaces
employing a large number of non-regular workers, thereby spreading the law-abiding atmosphere
and making relevant improvements more palpable among workplaces. The government conducted
guidance and inspection activities in 312 workplaces in 2013 and 341 workplaces, employing a
large number of fixed-term and part-time workers, in 2014.
4. Protection of In-house subcontracted workers

Furthermore, in order to properly operate the in-house subcontracting regime, protect the
working conditions of in-house subcontractworkers and ensure employment security for them,
the government established the guidelines for protecting working conditions of in-house
subcontracted workers1) in consultation with labor, management and related experts on July 18,
2011. The government has operated a group of supporters to improve the working conditions of
in-house subcontractworkers since August 2011. They conducted workplace surveys, publicized
best practices and concluded compliance agreements2) with 37 workplaces in 2013, and 40
workplaces in 2014, thereby creating an atmosphere of compliance with the guidelines.
1) The key contents of the guidelines include:
when the existing subcontractor is replaced by a new one, the principal contractor should make efforts to retain the employment
terms and conditions of the subcontractor's employees;
the principal contractor should make efforts to reflect the performance of subcontracted business on to the
subcontracting price, taking into consideration the subcontractor's contribution; and
the principal contractor should give subcontractors' employees an opportunity to present
their opinions through, for example, the labor-management council or a meeting with the principal contractor.
2) Large workplaces using many subcontractors (8 companies, including Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering)
86
5. Support for companies' voluntary efforts to redress discrimination

Meanwhile, recognizing that problems with non-regular employment cannot be solved by
legal and institutional improvements alone, the government set up discrimination-free
workplace support teams (6 locations throughout the country) to make companies voluntarily
address discrimination in their workplaces. They have carried out education, publicity and
counseling activities for employers and employees since April 2010 and provided
employment structure improvement consulting for SMEs (115 SMEs in 2013, 108 SMEs In
regular employment. They have continued to make awareness-raising efforts, such as
campaigns and publicity activities to spread the social consensus on the need to reduce
Part 3
2014) to help SMEs reduce discrimination against non-regular workers and covert them to

discrimination against non-regular workers.
87
1. Retirement Pension System

1-1. Background
As the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act came into effect in 2005, Korea opened an
era of retirement pension. The Retirement Pension System is an advanced system replacing the
retirement pay system under which employers accumulate retirement assets inside their
companies. Under the Retirement Pension System, employers are required to annually put aside
an equivalent amount of retirement pay in a financial institution which then manages the money
and to pay workers retirement benefits in the form of an annuity or a lump sum payment when
they retire, thereby allowing workers to plan for their old age. The Retirement Pension System
is the second pillar of old-age income security and is responsible for providing old-age income
support for workers together with the national pension scheme, the first pillar, and private
pension plans, the third pillar. Introducing a retirement pension plan is not compulsory, but is
decided upon under an autonomous agreement between labor and the management.
1-2. Main features of the Retirement Pension System

1-2-1. Types of retirement pension plans
There are three types of retirement pension plans, that is, DB-type(defined benefit)
retirement pension, DC-type (defined contribution) retirement pension and IRP (individual
retirement pension)3), to allow various choices to be made depending on the characteristics of
workplaces and workers. In particular, workplaces with fewer than ten employees are subject
to a special IRP plan called company-based IRP4), which is basically the same as a DC-type
plan except that it is more simple to introduce.
3) Defined Benefit (DB): Workers retirement benefits are pre-defined. Contributions to be paid by employers may change depending on the results of fund management.
Defined Contribution (DC): Employers contributions are pre-defined. Retirement benefits to be received by workers may change depending on the results of fund management.
Individual Retirement Pension (IRP): Individual workers may choose the way in which retirement benefits are managed or whether additional contributions are made or not.
4) Under the special IRP, when a workplace with fewer than 10 permanent employees adopts an IRP at the request of employees, it is considered to set up a retirement benefit
scheme for the employees, and therefore, the employer is exempted from the obligation to draw up a relevant set of rules and receive the education required for subscribers.
88
1-2-2. Payment methods: annuity or lump-sum payment

One of the primary features of the Retirement Pension System is that retirement benefits
which used to be paid in a lump sum can be drawn in the form of an annuity. This is not to
say that workers must receive retirement benefits in the form of an annuity, but that they may
receive benefits in a lump sum. However, workers can enjoy greater tax benefits if they
transfer their retirement assets to an IRP account after retirement to provide for old age.
The retirement pension reserve surpassed 89 trillion KRW in September 2014, nine years
about 100 trillion KRW by the end of 2014.
(in 100 million KRW)
Reserve
(% of total)
Total
DB-type
DC-type
Special IRP
IRP
890,338
(100)
606,338
(68.1)
204,622
(23.0)
6,997
(0.8)
72,381
(8.1)
The number of workplaces adopting a retirement pension plan totaled 272,455, representing
16.1% of all workplaces with one or more permanent employees. The proportion of
workplaces adopting a DC-type plan was higher than that of those adopting a DB-type plan.
No. of workplaces
(%)
Total
DB-type
DC-type
DB & DC
Special IRP
272,455
(100)
83,003
(30.5)
146,952
(53.9)
7,280
(2.7)
35,220
(12.9)
The number of workers covered by a retirement pension plan totaled 5,290,000 representing
51% of all employees on contracts for one or more year. The number of workers covered by a
DB-type plan was more than double that of those covered by a DC-type plan.
No. of workers (1,000 persons)

(%)
Total
DB-type
DC-type
Special IRP
5,293
(100)
3,193
(60.3)
2,016
(38.1)
84
(1.6)
89

after the Retirement Pension System was first introduced. The reserve is expected to reach
Part 3
1-3. Retirement pension subscriptions in Korea
1-4. Measures to Promote the Retirement Pension System

Employers may choose the type of retirement benefits (a lump sum payment with an
annuity), and the Retirement Pension System may be introduced after full consultations
between labor and management at individual workplaces. Anyone concerned should be well
aware of the System from the stage of adopting it. However, as the Retirement Pension
System is a complicated system related to various fields, such as labor and management,
finance, and the tax system, education and PR activities for the System matters more than
anything else. To promote the Retirement Pension System and ensure the System takes root
quickly, the government has taken various measures, such as active PR activities, free
education and consulting support, for the labor and management of workplaces with an
intention to introduce the Retirement Pension System.
2. Welfare systems for workers

2-1. Employee Welfare Fund System
The Employee Welfare Fund System was introduced as a welfare system for workers in
1992 with the aim of boosting workers' desire to work and increasing productivity. It is a
gain-sharing system under which labor and management work together to make profits and a
portion of such profits is contributed to a fund to finance welfare projects for workers. The
system has contributed to the creation of in-company participatory welfare by minimizing the
impact of economic fluctuations and thus ensuring the stable implementation of welfare
projects. As of December 2012, about 1,368 companies were using this system and the total
amount of the funds was approximately 6.8 trillion KRW.
2-2. Employee Stock Ownership Plan

The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) allows employees to acquire and hold their
companies' shares. The ESOP helps to accumulate employees' wealth, increase corporate
productivity and create cooperative labor-management relationships, eventually contributing
90
to both employee welfare and corporate development. Under the ESOP, an employee can
acquire his/her company's shares through capital increase without consideration or
preferential share allotment. As of the end of October 2014, there were 3,096 associations for
ESOP which held shares worth a total of 5.7 trillion KRW (on a purchase price basis).
2-3. Livelihood security loans for workers
workers' livelihoods, starting by providing loans for medical expenses. As of the end of
October 2014, the program was providing loans for medical expenses, elderly parents'
living costs during wage cuts or delays. So far 172,651 low-income workers have received a
total of 883.3 billion KRW in livelihood loans at a low interest rate and used them to cover
their and their dependants' unexpected costs.
2-4. Other support measures

In addition to the aforementioned support programs, the government implements other
support measures, such as managing and running rental apartments for workers, organizing
culture and art festivals for workers and providing credit guarantees to workers.
91

medical care expenses, funeral expenses, wedding expenses, children's school expenses, and
Part 3
The livelihood security loan program for workers was launched in 1996 to stabilize
Part. 4
Overview of Industrial Relations in Korea
Korea has made consistent progress towards cooperative industrial relations based on
dialogue and compromise, moving away from its old confrontational ones. Its efforts to make
a shift away from confrontational industrial relations characterized by distrust and conflict
towards cooperative ones based on trust and harmony resulted in the social agreement to
overcome the economic crisis in 1998, the social pact for job creation in February 2004
and the jobs pact to achieve a 70% employment rate in May 2013. These agreements have
contributed considerably to Korea's social and economic development, such as the
development of tripartite partnerships, economic recovery, job creation and social integration.
Above all, in 2014 Korea consolidated the framework for enabling labor and management to
discuss major social issues and find and implement solutions together instead of pursuing their
own interests. The Economic and Social Development Commission got back on track thanks to
the government's efforts to restore tripartite dialogue, and its specialized committees, which were
set up by industry and agenda to address newly emerging employment and labor issues, actively
conducted discussions. At the industry level, the government operated an on-going forum
involving employers and workers in each industry to gather various field opinions and make the
results of tripartite discussions more suitable for industrial reality. At the local level, the
government helped to create consensus and spread a cooperative atmosphere among labor,
management, government and civic groups by prompting the signing of joint declarations and
agreements on main employment and labor issues, such as improving wage systems and
reducing working hours. As for the multiple unions system, the government assessed the status of
its implementation through a survey on multiple unions operating at workplaces, and thus paved
the way for discussion on rational complementary measures to reinforce the system. It also
expanded the scope of workers eligible to receive free legal aid services from Labor Relations
Commissions with a view to strengthening remedies for violations of vulnerable workers' rights.
Stable industrial relations are considered to have played a part in broadening the basis for
creating a sound corporate ecosystem where labor and management can prosper together. For
instance, they served as the driving force behind corporate development and job creation by
enabling labor and management to act as responsible stakeholders leading the economy.
The government will continue to pursue policies for the advancement of industrial relations
which can not only bring stability to industrial relations but also generate jobs amid rapidly
changing labor market circumstances due to economic globalization and intensifying competition.
94
III
Establishment
FoundationRelations
for Win-Win
LaborEmployment &ofIndustrial
Measures
Management Cooperation
1. Strengthening of central tripartite dialogue and local

quadripartite cooperation
1-1. Promotion of tripartite dialogue at the central level
Since its launch in 1998, the Economic and Social Development Commission (ESDC) has
contributed to minimizing social conflicts by identifying and discussing key social issues and
making agreements or recommendations, including the social agreement to overcome the
agreement to overcome the economic crisis during the financial crisis of 2009.
industry. It strengthened its role as a social dialogue body by promoting discussions on

current issues of concern and discussing social and economic policies as well as labor
policies through those committees.
As of 2013, ESCD were operating a total of 27 such meeting groups. The Jobs Committee for
Work-Life Balance, the Committee on Improvement of Vocational Education & Training System
to Make Work Pay and the Committee on Auto-Parts, all of which were newly created in 2013,
had in-depth discussions on current social issues, such as child-care support for working mothers
and prevention of their career breaks, a better vocational training system tailored to local and
industrial needs, and working hour reduction and shift work reform in the auto parts industry.
1-2. Stronger cooperation between labor, management, civic groups and the
government at the local level
A local quadripartite consultative council, whatever it is called, refers to an organization in
which the government, employment and labor office, labor and management and residents'
Part. 4 Advancement of Industrial Relations
95
In 2007, ESDC reformed the way it operates and set up committees by agenda and
Part 4
foreign reserve crisis during the Asian financial crisis of 1998 and the quadripartite
representatives in a local area participate and conduct practical consultations to create jobs
and stabilize industrial relations in that local area for the purpose of reviving the local
economy. In an effort to promote such local four-party cooperation, the government has
conducted a project to provide support for programs that each local government runs through
its local quadripartite consultative council.
In 2014, in order to give a better understanding of the project and encourage participation,
the government held information sessions for local governments, a series of meetings, joint
workshops for local quadripartite partners, etc. The government also put its efforts into
creating favorable conditions for four-party cooperation between labor, management,
government and civic groups. For instance, it collected examples of well-run local
consultative councils and posted them on the industrial relations culture website (nosa
winwin plus) to share them with all quadripartite partners. And it published and distributed a
manual for operation of local quadripartite consultative councils to help local governments
carry out programs and local employment and labor offices support such programs.
Furthermore, the government is making every effort to ensure that each local consultative
council can establish itself as an autonomous and integrated governance tool actually
responsible for employment, labor and training at the local level and act as a driving force to
achieve a 70% employment rate.
2. Labor-management council system

Aside from the system of collective bargaining between labor and management over wages,
working hours, welfare and other working conditions, Korea has the labor-management
council system whose aim is to increase productivity, promote the welfare of workers and
handle grievances in the workplace. Labor-management councils have been established and
operating at the enterprise level to promote workers' welfare and achieve sound corporate
development through mutual participation and cooperation between labor and management.
Matters subject to decision by labor-management councils include the establishment of a
basic plan on employee education/training and skills development; the installation and
96
management of welfare facilities; the creation of an employee welfare fund; matters not
decided upon by the grievance handling committee; and the setting-up of various joint labormanagement committees.
3. Spread of social responsibility among employers and workers

Korea has recently achieved the fastest economic recovery among OECD countries after the
financial crisis. However, there is concern that its economic growth may lose momentum as
the labor market dominated by large companies and regular workers and unfair
subcontracting practices between principal contractors and subcontractors are leading to slow
between large companies and SMEs is intensifying social polarization. Although the
government, for its part, is establishing and implementing various policies to address those
very important for employers and workers to fulfill their social responsibilities based on
concessions and considerations.
The government has recognized that raising awareness of social responsibility across
industrial sites was an important first step in spreading social responsibility among employers
and workers. So social responsibility diagnostic models and indicators combining both
corporate social responsibility (CSR) and union social responsibility (USR) were developed
through two commissioned research projects in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
In 2014, the government went beyond enhancing awareness and spreading a favorable
atmosphere and started to focus on disseminating social responsibility practices by finding
best practices, giving awards to outstanding companies and conducting publicity activities.
97
problems, legal and institutional approaches alone cannot be sufficient to tackle them, so it is
Part 4
job creation and the unreasonable and huge gap between regular and non-regular workers and
4. Stronger support for the spread of labor-management cooperation

4-1. Publicity activities to spread labor-management cooperation
In 2014, the government strived to spread favorable public opinion on the establishment of
a sound industrial relations culture and consensus on the need to restructure wage systems
and relieve labor market dualism by conducting across-the-board publicity activities using
various media, such as TV, newspapers, the internet and public participation campaigns. As
part of online publicity efforts to increase interest and participation among the general public,
the government held a contest to find a new name for the industrial relations culture website
and changed its name from nosa bravo to nosa winwin plus(www.nosawinwin.or.kr).
Moreover, the government held award ceremonies to honor enterprises with an excellent
industrial relations culture, Best Labor Relations Culture Award winners, Labor Day award
winners, employers and workers who had made significant contributions to labormanagement win-win cooperation and individuals and local governments that had made
significant contributions to local quadripartite cooperation, and publicized their best
practices, thereby spreading a win-win industrial relations culture.
4-2. Support for labor-management partnership programs

For 12 years now since its launch in 2003, the labor-management partnership support
project has provided support for labor-management cooperation programs carried out jointly
by labor and management to firmly establish cooperative industrial relations in workplaces. It
has established its position as a major project contributing to better industrial relations in
Korea. Since 2009, institutional improvements have been made to the project to enhance its
effectiveness and expand support for newly participating enterprises and SME. They included
restricting successive subsidy reception, raising the self-financing ratio for large companies
(from 20% to 30%), establishing a beneficiary search system and inviting applications
separately according to enterprise size.
98
<Number of beneficiaries by year>

Beneficiaries
Year
Budget
(in million won)
Total
Workplaces
Workplace
Regional
organizations organizations
Industry
associations
Non-profit
corporations
2011
4,400
130
117
2012
4,400
136
124
2013
3,530
132
120
12
The government evaluated the effectiveness of the project by making a before-and-after

comparison in seven categories-open management, internal communication, profit sharing,
human resources development, workers' and employers' awareness and attitudes, collective
labor relations and partnership. The evaluation found that awareness of industrial relations
5.0%p in 2011
6.1%p in 2012
6.3%p in 2013)
since the introduction of the project.
In a bid to promote labor-management cooperation, the government has selected enterprises

with an excellent industrial relations culture and the winners of the Best Labor Relations
Culture Award and provided them with administrative and financial support. In 2014, out of
118 enterprises applying for the certification of enterprises with an excellent industrial
relations culture, 52 were selected and certified as such.
Regarding the Best Labor Relations Culture Award, 10 out of 35 applicants were selected
as award winners in 2014. The winners enjoy various benefits, such as the right to postpone
a tax audit and extra points given if they bid for government procurement contracts or
receive a credit assessment.
Moreover, on Labor Day (May 1) of each year, those who have contributed to promoting
labor-management cooperation and improving productivity are selected and offered
government awards. On Labor Day of 2014, the Order of Industrial Service Merit, Industrial
Service Medal, Presidential Citation, etc. were awarded to a total of 211 people.
99
4-3. Certification of enterprises with excellent industrial relations culture and

Workers' Day Awards
Part 4
had improved each year (4.5%p in 2010
I
III
Establishment
Fair and Responsible
Employment &ofIndustrial
Relations Industrial
Measures
Relations Culture
1. Efficient and preventive management of labor-management conflicts

In 2013, the new administration made meeting a 70% employment target its top policy priority,
and strived to create an atmosphere of social dialogue with a view to creating and retaining jobs
and improving the quality of jobs. As a result, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL)
signed the tripartite jobs pact to achieve a 70% employment rate with the Federation of Korean
Trade Unions (FKTU) and the Korea Employers' Federation (KEF) on May 30 to seek
cooperation and concession from labor and management. Based on this pact, MOEL announced
the roadmap to achieve a 70% employment rate and has since implemented it.
Meanwhile, adhering to the principle that labor-management conflicts must be settled
autonomously through dialogue within the boundaries of laws no matter how long it takes, the
government has made efforts to manage labor-management conflicts systematically and
efficiently, promote productive bargaining and reform irrational industrial relations practices.
Thanks to such efforts, industrial relations have remained stable, new industrial relations laws and
systems, including the paid time-off system and the bargaining channel unification, made a soft
landing, and an atmosphere of labor-management cooperation is spreading across workplaces.
In an effort to stabilize industrial relations at workpalces, prevent labor disputes and manage
labor-management conflicts in a systematic and efficient way, the government selected 246
workplaces prone to labor disputes and assigned dedicated labor inspectors to those workplaces. It
also deployed intensive dispute prevention activities, such as detecting and analyzing the causes of
conflicts before wage and collective bargaining. In particular, 11 key workplaces, including
automobile and railway firms, which could have a great social and economic impact were selected
and managed intensively and directly by the head of each local employment and labor office.
Meanwhile, an industrial relations support task force was set up in each local
employment and labor office to strictly deal with illegal acts and eventually establish
industrial relations which are in compliance with laws and principles. Legitimate strikes and
justifiable union activities were actively protected within the boundaries of laws, but if any
illegal act, such as employers' unfair labor practices and trade unions' illegal strikes or acts of
violence and destruction, is committed, corresponding legal liability has been imposed on the
violator regardless of whether he/she is an employer or a worker.
100
2. Reform of irrational industrial relations culture and practices

The government continued to adhere to laws and principles and the principle of letting
labor and management autonomously settle their conflicts and promoted the reform of
irrational industrial relations practices. As a result, industrial relations stayed remarkably stable
in 2013. However, there still remained irrational industrial relations culture and practices, such
as restrictions on employers' right of personnel management and managerial prerogative,
unlawful collective agreements and union bylaws and the practice of keeping too many fulltime union officials. To reform such practices, the government spread the consensus on the
need to reform irrational industrial relations practices and stepped up its guidance efforts to
reform irrational practices found in collective bargaining and collective agreements.
Part 4
2-1. Providing guidance on employers' unlawful acts
government published a manual for seizure and search in cases of unfair labor practices
(Nov. 2013) and a guidebook for preventing workplaces with multiple unions from
committing unfair labor practices and violating the duty of fair representation (Aug. 2014).
2-2. Spreading consensus on the need to reform irrational industrial relations practices
Since 2008, the government has concentrated on publicity activities aimed at creating favorable
public opinion and spreading national consensus to establish a sound industrial relations culture.
In addition, MOEL spread the consensual atmosphere by getting its local offices to
consistently provide education to trade unions and employers about the need to reform
irrational industrial relations practices.
Meanwhile, the government will spread the consensus on the need to reform irrational
industrial relations practices by, for example, holding expert meetings based on the results of
the survey on collective agreements mentioned above.
101
In order to prevent employers' unfair labor practices and provide guidance on them, the
IV
Improvement of Industrial Relations Laws and Systems
1. Rational reinforcement of the paid time-off system

According to the tripartite agreement reached on December 4, 2009, the Trade Union and
Labor Relations Adjustment Act (hereinafter Trade Union Act) was amended on January 1,
2010 to implement the ban on the payment of wages by employers to full-time union
officials, which had been put on hold for 13 years since 1997. Along with the ban, the paid
time-off system that allows employers to pay for union activities serving the common
interests of both labor and management was introduced and came into effect on July 1, 2010.
Under the paid time-off system, employers are prohibited from paying wages to full-time
union officials pursuant to the amended Trade Union Act, and trade unions are required to
bear such costs on their own, but workers are allowed to engage in the union activities
prescribed by the Trade Union Act, such as bargaining, consultation, grievance handling and
occupational safety activities, without any loss of wages.
To ensure that the paid time-off system take root in industrial sites, the government
continued to conduct guidance and inspection activities in respect of collective agreements
made in large companies and the public sector and their implementation in 2012. The
government made it a rule to strictly deal with dodgy and illegal acts committed by
employers and trade unions. And to spread a law-abiding atmosphere, it came up with a
guidance and inspection plan for the paid time-off system on January 25, 2012 and
instructed local authorities to follow the plan.
Meanwhile, in order to spread the law-abiding atmosphere across all workplaces, the scope
of workplaces subject to guidance and inspection which had focused on major workplaces,
such as large companies and car manufacturers, was extended to small and medium-sized
workplaces in 2012. In the case of workplaces with multiple unions, the government
strengthened preemptive prevention activities to prevent violations of law. For instance, they
were offered advisory and consulting services to prevent labor-management or labor-labor
conflicts over the allocation of the maximum paid time-off. And in the case of workplaces
introducing or agreeing to introduce the maximum time-off limit, the government undertook
102
monitoring of collective agreements and workplace inspections simultaneously and judicially

treated violators to completely block employers' and trade unions' illegal and dodgy acts.
Thanks to these efforts, of 3,028 unionized workplaces with 100 employees or more
(including those with fewer than 100 employees in the manufacturing (metal) and public
sectors) whose collective agreement was due to expire before the end of June 2013, 3,013 or
99.5% (tentatively) agreed to introduce the maximum time-off limit. And of those workplaces
introducing the maximum time-off limit, 3,012 or 99.9% observed the limit while just one
workplace (0.1%) exceeded it. So the paid time-off system has been seen as settling down
rapidly in a relatively short period of time.
* According to a report released by the Korean Industrial Relations Research Association on June 15, 2012, the number of
paid full-time union officials fell by 32.1% from 2.8 to 1.9 on average. This shows that on the whole, the paid time-off
system made a soft landing.
Part 4
<Number of workplaces adopting the paid time-off system(as of Jun. 30, 2013)>
Workplaces (tentatively) agreeing to introduce the maximum time-off limit
Workplaces subject to
guidance
Total
3,028
3,013
Those complying with

the limit
3,012(99.9%)
Those exceeding
the ljmit
1(0.1%)
Meanwhile, in order to make up for problems that had emerged since the paid time-off
system came into effect on July 1, 2010, the government adjusted the maximum time-off
limits and set them at a reasonable level (effective since Jul. 1, 2013).
2. Strengthening Labor Relation Commissions' dispute

prevention/mediation functions
2-1. Background
Labor Relations Commissions (LRCs) are consensus-based administrative bodies composed
of workers, employers, and public interest representatives, which were set up with the enactment of
103
(Unit : workplaces)
the Labor Relations Commission Act on March 8, 1953 for the purpose of providing administrative
services such as mediating and adjudicating disputes arising from industrial relations.
LRCs operate mainly to settle individual rights disputes (adjudication cases), especially
over unfair labor practices and dismissal, and collective interest disputes (mediation cases),
such as industrial action. Their new services concerning the Minimum Service System
introduced in January 2008 and the multiple unions system effective since July 2011 are
taking hold smoothly. In addition, as the system of notifying LRCs of non-compliance with
instructions to correct discrimination was introduced in August 2012, they are expected to
play a bigger role in reducing discrimination against non-regular workers.
As for mediation services, LRCs achieved a mediation success rate of 65% at the end of
2013 thanks to active medication by their members and investigators despite difficult
circumstances, such as the continuing economic slump at home and abroad. Services
concerning the Minimum Service System implemented since January 2008 entered a
stabilization phase as the determination of major workplaces subject to the system was almost
completed. As for adjudication services, the number of requests for adjudication increased
slightly by 1.7% in 2013 compared to 2012, and the success rate of conciliation reached 33.4%
thanks to active conciliation efforts. And 87.9% of decisions made by the National Labor
Relations Commission (NLRC) after review were upheld on administrative appeal. LRCs also
strived to promptly and accurately deal with various labor disputes, such as disputes over the
determination of a bargaining representative union and the separation of the bargaining unit,
which occurred in the bargaining channel unification process introduced on July 1, 2011.
Moreover, with the revision of the Labor Relations Commission Act in May 2007, a free
legal aid program was introduced under which certified labor affairs consultants offer legal
services to low-income workers who cannot receive legal assistance in seeking adjudication,
decision, approval, recognition or redress for discrimination through LRCs. The eligibility
requirements have kept eased by extending the scope to workers with an average salary of 1.7
million KRW or less in 2010 and further to those with an average salary of 2 million KRW or
less on November 1, 2014. By doing so, the government stepped up its efforts to protect the
rights and interests of vulnerable workers.
104
2-2. LRCs' enhanced dispute mediation function

In 2013, the number of requests for dispute mediation increased by 1.3% to 775 because of
huge differences of opinion between labor and management on wages and welfare and
businesses' belt-tightening caused by the continuing global economic slump. Despite the slow
economic recovery, the success rate of medication was 65%, up 3.1%p compared with the
figure recorded in 2012.
<Mediation success rate by year>
Part 4
Since January 2008, LRCs have received 212 requests (three requests in 2012) for decision on
minimum services that should be maintained even in the event of a strike. Of the total cases, a
decision was rendered in 151 cases (one case in 2012), 60 cases (one case in 2012) were
withdrawn after autonomous settlement between the employer and trade union concerned, and
one case was still under way as of the end of 2012. Requests for decision on minimum services
came mostly from diverse and professional job categories, such as gas supply, hospitals and
railway services. So in order to enhance their expertise, LRCs held workshops for their
members and investigators and created a pool of experts who can give advice on relevant areas.
Since the System came into effect, a total of 36 appeals have been filed against review
decisions on minimum services. And NLRC's review decisions were quoted by the rulings in
all of those appeal cases. This suggests that the Minimum Service System is taking hold
earlier than expected.
105
2-3. Efforts to entrench the Minimum Service System
2-4. Efforts to entrench the multiple unions system and the bargaining channel
unification system
A total of 1,382 union pluralism-related cases-133 cases in 2011, 623 cases in 2012 and 626
cases in 2013-have been filed with Labor Relations Commissions across the country since the
bargaining channel unification system entered into force with the revision of the Trade Union
Act on July 1, 2011. As of the end of 2013, 560 cases had been handled and 66 cases were
under way. By type of case received, cases concerning public notification of trade unions
demanding bargaining totaled 223 in 2013, representing the largest share (35.6%), which was
followed by 178 cases (28.4%) concerning the separation of the bargaining unit, 167 cases
(26.7%) concerning a violation of the duty of fair representation and 58 cases (9.3%)
concerning the determination of a bargaining representative union.
The total number of cases filed in 2013 was close to the previous year's level, but the
number of cases relating to the duty of fair representation more than doubled to 167
compared with 73 cases filed in 2012. This seems to be due to conflicts that occurred between
bargaining representative unions determined following the bargaining channel unification
procedure and minority unions while they were engaging in union activities.
2-5. LRCs' enhanced capability to handle adjudication cases and increased

conciliation rate
The number of requests for adjudication, both first and review, totaled 14,323 in 2013, up
10.8% from the previous year. In order to enhance LRCs' fairness and the reliability of their
decisions, the expertise of their investigators was strengthened by promoting education,
including analysis of decisions against plaintiffs and recent trends in rulings, among them.
And a database of rulings in administrative lawsuits (classified by type of issue) was created
(2010~2011) and made available for LRCs' public interest members and investigators to use
while performing their duties so that LRCs can make more professional decisions.
106
2-6. Stable operation of the discrimination correction system

Amendments to the Act on the Protection, etc., of Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employees
and the Act on the Protection, etc., of Dispatched Workers, aimed at promoting the correction
of discrimination against non-regular workers, were passed by the National Assembly on
February 1, 2012 and came into effect on August 2, 2012.
Under the previous law, non-regular workers could seek redress for discrimination against
them only through the competent Labor Relations Commission. But the amended law grants
labor inspectors at local employment and labor offices the authority to instruct employers to
correct such discrimination.
discrimination, the labor inspector does not have the authority to punish the employer. In this
the Commission examines the case. This institutional change made it possible for incumbent
workers who could not request redress for discrimination for fear of losing their jobs to seek
such redress. In addition, the period during which a worker can file a request for redress was
extended from three months to six months.
In 2013, LRCs received a total of 103 cases seeking redress for discrimination (including
cases carried forward from the previous year) and handled 99 of them. As a result of
handling, a corrective order was issued in 23 cases, and 13 cases were dismissed, 6 cases
rejected, 20 cases mediated and 37 cases withdrawn.
107
case, he/she may notify the Labor Relations Commission of such non-compliance and then
Part 4
However, if an employer fails to comply with a labor inspectors demand to correct
VI
Establishment
Rational Industrial
Relations
in the
Employment &ofIndustrial
Relations
Measures
Public Sector
1. Public officials' labor relations

1-1. Establishment of public officials' trade unions
The enactment of the Act on the Establishment, Operation, etc., of Public Officials' Trade
Unions (hereinafter Public Officials Trade Union Act) on January 28, 2006 opened the way
for general public officials to legitimately set up trade unions and engage in union activities.
In spite of their relatively short history, public officials trade unions have grown greatly in
number. At the end of 2013, there were a total of 122 trade unions of public officials with a
combined membership of 179,615 people.
<Number of public officials' trade unions>
(As of the end of December 2013)
Total
Federations
Nationwide
Constitutional Administrative
Local
institutions
agencies
governments
Municipal and
provincial
offices of
education
No. of unions
122
11
78
25
No. of union
members
(persons)
179,615
60,250
8,388
24,181
55,345
27,451
1-2. Policies for public officials' labor relations

Since the Public Officials' Trade Unions Act entered into force, public-sector employees,
including teachers and employees of public institutions who already have the right to
organize, have emerged as a main pillar of labor relations in Korea.
Given public officials' special status, the public nature of their work and their high union
density (60.9%) which makes the public service the most highly unionized single sector, how
108
to establish rational labor relations in the public service in the future is an important question
directly related to the competitiveness of Korea's public officials and overall labor relations.
Fully aware of this, the government has made various efforts to establish rational public
service labor relations as soon as possible.
On the occasion of the 5th anniversary (Jan. 28, 2011) of the Public Officials Trade Union
Act, the government held a forum under the theme of Five Years into Labor Relations in the
Public Service: Evaluations and Challenges which brought together representatives from the
government and public officials unions and external experts to evaluate public service labor
relations so far and seek their future direction. The government has also made efforts to
actively inform public officials that public service labor relations could gain public support
only when they are in harmony with public interests, so public officials' trade unions should
example for private-sector industrial relations.
service labor relations, since 2009, the government has continued its guidance efforts to
improve public officials' collective agreements and union bylaws and make them compatible
with the relevant law.
The government has also actively conducted education and publicity activities for people in
charge of public service labor relations. More specifically, as soon as the Public Officials
Trade Union Act came into force, the government developed promotional leaflets and
educational materials, including a work manual and an explanatory guide to the key
provisions of the Act, and distributed them across public institutions at all levels.
Moreover, the government produced and distributed work manuals, Q&A books and issuespecific litigation casebooks to help with the legal interpretation of the contentious provisions
of the Act, and offered subdivided education courses, such as basic, professional, special and
workplace-tailored courses, through the Employment & Labor Training Institute (ELTI) to
provide systematic education about public service labor relations.
109
Furthermore, in order to address existing unlawful or unreasonable practices of public
Part 4
pursue reasonable activities instead of confrontations and struggles, thereby setting a good
2. Teachers' industrial relations

2-1. Establishment of teachers' trade unions
There are three nationwide teachers' trade unions (Korean Teachers and Education Workers'
Union, Korean Union of Teaching and Education Workers and Korean Teachers Union), one
association of teachers' unions (Korea Liberal Teachers' Union) and six municipal- and
provincial-level teachers' unions (Seoul, Busan, Ulsan, Gyeonggi, Chungnam, DaeguGyeongbuk). Each nationwide teachers' trade union has its local chapters (16 chapters of
KTU, 10 chapters of KUTE and 4 chapters of KOTU).
<Number of teachers' trade unions>
(As of the end of December 2013)
Union name
Affiliated organizations
No. of union members
Date of establishment
Korean Teachers & Education

Workers' Union (KTU)
16 local chapters
60,249
Jul. 1, 1999
Korean Union of Teaching and

Education Workers (KUTE)
10 local chapters
5,936
Jul. 1, 1999
Korean Teachers Union

(KOTU)
4 local chapters
362
Dec. 1, 2008
Korea Liberal Teachers' Union

(KLTU)
6 enterprise-level unions
2,201
May 4, 2006
Each trade union of teachers may sign a collective agreement with the Ministry of
Education and a municipal or provincial office of education on teachers' wages, working
conditions and welfare. By October 2014, KTU, KUTE, KLTU and KOTU had signed
collective agreements with 12 offices of education (Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju,
Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam and Ulsan), 7 offices of
education (Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Gyeonggi, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam and Gyeongnam), the
Ministry of Education and 3 offices of education (Seoul, Ulsan and Gyeonggi), and 2 offices
of education (Seoul and Gyeonggi), respectively. Other offices of education are negotiating
with each trade union of teachers to enter into a collective agreement.
110
2-2. Policies for teachers' industrial relations

First, the government has provided guidance to teachers' trade unions to help them set a
reasonable bargaining agenda and correct the unreasonable provisions of their collective
agreements in order to reform irrational bargaining practices and establish rational industrial
relations for teachers.
Second, the government has provided education on teachers' industrial relations. Such
education has been provided to public officials in charge of collective bargaining in offices of
education, principals, and so on to improve their understanding of labor laws, including the
Teachers Union Act, and strengthen their collective bargaining capabilities.
unions (Dec. 2007, Mar. 2011) and developed and distributed industrial relations manuals for
3. Industrial relations in other areas of the public sector

Public companies and other public institutions are pursuing rational industrial relations
through business assessment and consulting as well as democratic bargaining with the
Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.
In addition, in 2014 the government provided public-sector labor education to a total of
1,902 people on 51 occasions with a focus on solving actual industrial relations problems and
conflicts facing the public sector.
111
teachers (Jun. 2009, May 2014) to support rational bargaining at the school level.
Part 4
Third, along with these efforts, the government published Q&A books about teachers' trade
Part. 5
Overview
The government found it necessary to choose and focus on accident-prone sectors in order to
reduce the industrial accident rate which had stayed at around 0.7% since the economic crisis
of 1997. So since 2009, it has analyzed accident trends for the past five years in the
manufacturing and construction industries, two traditionally accident-prone sectors, and
selected 105,000 high-risk workplaces with a view to reducing occupational accidents
including the three most common accidents-caught in/between objects, falls on the samel level
and falls from elevations-which account for about 50% of all accidents. The government has
pursued intensive control of occupational accidents in those workplaces by moving away from
providing technical assistance, financial support, education, publicity, etc., in a fragmented and
piecemeal way and toward focusing every available resource on target workplaces.
Since January 1, 2009, the safety certification and inspection systems (56,133 safety
certifications and 209,697 safety inspections in 2011) have been implemented to ensure the
fundamental safety of personal protective equipment, protective devices and dangerous
machinery and equipment highly likely to cause an accident. With the systems, the
government has ensured that only those products whose safety has been confirmed can be
produced and distributed, and that the safety of dangerous machinery and equipment used at
workplaces is checked on a regular basis.
In particular, the Enforcement Decree of the Occupational Safety and Health Act was
revised on January 26, 2011 to make more rational the scope of equipment subject to safety
certification and self safety check. For instance, portable machine saws, gondolas, etc., which
frequently cause accidents and are classified as equipment subject to safety certification in
advanced countries were newly added to the list of equipment subject to safety certification.
Moreover, in response to the insufficient use of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
introduced in 1995 in accordance with the relevant ILO convention, a task force set up by related
government agencies came up with measures to improve the reliability of chemical safety and
health information and delivery mechanisms in December 2008. According to the measures, the
government updated MSDS for 5,000 chemicals and provided information on how to handle 31
114
chemicals by hazard class in 2009. In particular, it developed a hazard information sheet which
offers an easy-to-understand summary of the main contents of each MSDS, and distributed its
copies to 15,000 workplaces handling any of 30 highly hazardous chemicals.
Small workplaces are reluctant to conduct health examinations and exclude some workers
from health examinations because of the cost burdens caused by such examinations, which
has consistently raised the need to improve the reliability of health examinations. So with the
aim of detecting suspected disease cases early and enhancing the reliability of the special
health examination system, since April 2009, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health
Agency (KOSHA) has received applications for special health examination subsidy from
workplaces with fewer than 10 employees and subsidized their costs of special health
examination using the industrial accident compensation insurance and prevention fund.
Recognizing that a drastic policy shift is needed to tackle the industrial accident rate stuck at
around 0.7% for the decade since the IMF bail-out, the government introduced a risk
assessment system that allows employers and workers to autonomously identify and address
the need for a paradigm shift in safety management toward workplace-based autonomous
nationwide on a pilot basis for three years from 2010 to 2012 and went into full swing in 2013.
In 2013, the first year of its full-blown implementation, a provision (Article 41-2) was newly
inserted into the Occupational Safety and Health Act to further clarify the legal basis for risk
assessment. The government operates not only the system of recognizing workplaces for their
outstanding risk assessment, but also the differential IACI premium system under which
workplaces can have their IACI premiums reduced by 20% if they have obtained such recognition.
The government also made the Korea Risk Assessment System (KRAS) more sophisticated to
prevent any inconvenience workplaces may experience while conducting a risk assessment.
Meanwhile, the government took measures to strengthen accident prevention and control in
the construction industry which has a relatively high risk of big accidents, such as falls from
elevations, falls from high altitudes and collapses, compared with other industries. For
instance, it conducted inspections and checks mainly during thawing, rainy and winter
seasons which are the three most accident-prone periods. And in order to reduce accidents in
Part. 5 Creation of Safe and Healthy Workplace
115
control. After its introduction in 2009, the risk assessment system was implemented
Part 5
the causes of accidents and occupational diseases in their workplaces. This was a response to
accident-prone small construction sites engaged in a construction project worth less than two
billion KRW, it divided accident prevention roles among key players, such as labor
inspectors, KOSHA, accident prevention institutions and safety and health keepers, and
enabled them to concentrate their administrative capacities on their own roles. The
government also provided state-financed technical assistance to small construction sites
engaged in a construction project worth less than 300 million KRW.
116
III
Employment
& Industrial
Relations Vulnerable
MeasuresSectors
Safety Management
in Accident-Prone,
1. Intensive control of occupational accidents

The industrial accident rate stood at 4~5% in the 1960s when industrial accident data began to
be collected, but then continued to decline, reaching 4% in the 1970s, 2~3% in the 1980s and
around 1% in the early 1990s. The rate went down to 0.99% in 1995, marking the first time it had
fallen below 1%. In 2013, it fell further to 0.59%. After hitting 2.55
in 2003, the occupational
fatality rate (per 10,000 full-time employees) also steadily decreased, reaching 1.25
in 2013.
< Industrial accident trend >

Unit: accident rate(%), death rate(
Part 5
2. Stronger efforts to prevent fatal and big accidents

2-1. Enhancing the accident prevention capability of the construction sector
The construction industry is an outdoor industry involving diverse hazards throughout the
construction process. It is heavily affected by seasonal changes and relatively vulnerable to
big accidents such as falls from elevations, falls from high altitudes and collapses.
In order to prevent accidents in the construction industry, the government not only manages
in a close, ongoing manner, but also conducts inspections and checks of, construction sites
117
where a big accident is highly likely to happen during accident-prone seasons (thawing, rainy
and winter seasons). It also makes efforts to strengthen accident prevention in the
construction industry by, for example, providing technical guidance to small and medium
construction sites less capable of safety management.
In addition, the government has intensively managed construction sites at risk for big accidents.
In the case of high-risk construction work, such as digging down over 10 meters, building a bridge
with a span length of over 50 meters and building a structure with a height of over 31 meters, the
government receives a hazard and risk prevention plan, examines the safety of the relevant
construction work before construction begins, and checks the implementation of the plan regularly
during construction (2,643 cases examined and 7,553 cases checked by the end of Oct. 2014).
In 2014, according to its management plans which are different depending on the scale of
construction work, the government encouraged large construction sites to pursue voluntary
safety management, such as voluntary safety consulting, contractor-subcontractor cooperation
programs and safety and health diagnoses. On the other hand, the government stepped up its
guidance and inspection efforts for accident-prone small and medium construction sites
engaged in building multiple-household houses, one-room houses, stores, etc.
2-2. Strengthening the prevention of serious industrial accidents, such as fires and
explosions, in chemical plants
Since the chemical industry involves large production facilities and a large volume of
chemicals, an accident in that industry, such as a fire, an explosion and a toxic leak, could have a
serious adverse impact on residents and areas in the vicinity as well as on the workplace itself.
In order to strengthen prevention activities and provide specialized technical services with
regard to chemical accidents, serious industrial accident prevention centers were first set up
in four local areas with a high density of chemical plants in 2005. Such centers have since
been increased in number and are now operating in six local areas. By October 2014, the
government had examined 534 process safety management (PSM) reports, conducted on-site
verifications of PSM reports at 592 workplaces under the PSM system and checked the
implementation of PSM reports at 721 workplaces subject to the PSM standards.
118
In December 2013, a joint chemical disaster prevention center which involves six
government agencies, including the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, the
Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Ministry of Trade,
Industry and Energy and the National Emergency Management Agency, was launched to
strengthen government-wide disaster response capabilities and ensure public safety. Such
centers were set up additionally in five local areas with a high concentration of chemical
plants in January 2014 and have been operating since then.
Moreover, the PSM system was expanded to include workplaces with fewer than five
employees, and the number of PSM-covered chemicals was increased from the previous 21 to
51 in 2014. Workplaces subject to the PSM standards are rated P(Progressive), S(Stagnant) or
M(Malfunction) based on their level of compliance with the PSM standards, and managed
differently in terms of inspection frequency, etc., according to their rating.
In the case of accident-prone workplaces and workplaces with a poor working environment,
the Minister of Employment and Labor (heads of local employment and labor offices) may
order employers to establish a safety and health improvement plan and take comprehensive
improvement measures to prevent industrial accidents. This system is aimed at protecting
workers in such workplaces from hazards.
Target workplaces include workplaces with an industrial accident rate above the average
accident rate for workplaces of a similar size in the same industry; workplaces which have
exceeded the exposure limits for hazardous agents; and workplaces where serious accidents
have occurred because of the employer's failure to comply with the obligation to take safety
and health measures.
119
2-3-1. Establishment and order of safety and health improvement plans
Part 5
2-3. Strengthening fundamental accident prevention in manufacturing industries

involving lots of dangerous work
2-3-2. Submission of hazard and risk prevention plans

This system was re-introduced in 2009 to prevent industrial accidents in manufacturing
industries with a high accident rate. Target industries and equipment are 13 manufacturing
industries, including manufacture of fabricated metal products (except machinery and
furniture) and manufacture of mineral products, whose accident rate constantly stays above
the average accident rate for the whole manufacturing sector, and five types of equipment
used for hazardous and dangerous work or at hazardous and dangerous places.
If an employer installs or moves a structure, machine, instrument and equipment subject to
the submission requirement or alters any major structural part thereof, he/she should submit a
hazard and risk prevention plan to, and have it examined and confirmed by, KOSHA at least
15 days before such work starts.
When the system was resumed in 2009, it was implemented in a scaled-down version. In
other words, the number of industries subject to the requirement to submit a hazard and risk
prevention plan was reduced to just two compared with ten in 1997 before the requirement was
lifted. Thus it was pointed out that the system had limitations in accident prevention. So the
government amended the relevant legislation, taking into comprehensive account the accident
rate, the occupational death rate, etc. As a result, the scope of industries subject to the
submission requirement was extended to dangerous industries, including automobile
manufacturing and machinery and equipment manufacturing (Jul. 1, 2012) and further to three
previously excluded industries, including semiconductor manufacturing and electronic parts
manufacturing (Sep. 13, 2014). And newly established workplaces with fewer than five
employees, which had been exempt from submitting a hazard and risk prevention plan, have
been required to submit such a plan (Jan. 26, 2012). By November 2014, a total of 2,396
hazard and risk prevention plans had been submitted and examined and 2,778 plans confirmed.
2-4. Strengthening safety and health management in the shipbuilding sector

One characteristic of the shipbuilding industry is that work processes in various fields, such
as mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and construction, proceed simultaneously.
The government is operating the OSH implementation evaluation system for the
120
shipbuilding industry as an industrial accident prevention policy taking account of this

characteristic. Under the system, an employer is required to establish a safety and health
implementation plan considering the circumstances of his/her workplace and implement it.
After evaluating the extent of implementation, the government manages workplaces
differently according to the results.
In addition, in order to fundamentally prevent falls from elevations, the government
intensified its crackdown on defective equipment and materials temporarily installed in
construction sites, and improved the relevant installation criteria. Meanwhile, small and
medium shipbuilders were provided with educational support, materials on accident
prevention techniques and other technical guidance so that they could upgrade their level of
safety and health management.
2-5. Operating the dedicated management system to prevent serious accidents
management system for workplaces vulnerable to chemical accidents, such as fires,

shipbuilding and steel sectors in 2013. Under the system, labor inspectors intensively manage
and inspect target workplaces in a preemptive and preventive manner.
In late March 2013 when the project began, about 1,200 workplaces vulnerable to chemical
accidents were selected and managed. Then in August, workplaces in the construction,
shipbuilding and steel industries were added, increasing the total number of target workplaces
to 2,400. Having found that such preemptive accident prevention activities greatly
contributed to accident prevention, the government further expanded the project in November
and has since closely managed about 10,000 workplaces, of which 3,000 are workplaces in
need of intensive management and 7,000 are those in need of attention.
121
explosions and leaks, and workplaces at high risk for serious accidents in the construction,
Part 5
In an effort to prevent serious accidents, the government established the dedicated
3,000 workplaces in need of intensive management

Workplaces at high risk for fires, explosions, collapses, etc.
Among workplaces in need of attention, those where a serious accident
happened
7,000 worklaces in need of attention

Workplaces with lots of dangerous machinery, equipment and facilities,
such as cranes, forklifts and smelting furnaces, that could cause a fatal
accident
3. Protection of workers vulnerable to industrial accidents

3-1. Intensive management of micro and small workplaces
The government has selected a target group of high-risk accident-prone workplaces in each
industry and provided one-stop accident prevention consulting services to such workplaces. It
has also diversified project targets and methods considering the characteristics of each
industry. In addition, since 2013, the government has provided accident prevention guidance
to chemical-handling workplaces to actively respond to chemical accidents.
* One-stop services combine together technical assistance (risk assessment), educational assistance and financial
assistance (CLEAN and loans).
Classification
Support target and method
Goal
Safety (including
dangerous machinery)
Intensively managing high-risk workplaces with fewer than 50 employees to

prevent occupational accidents
46,000 workplaces
per year
Health
Providing technical assistance to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees

which are less capable of health management
30,000 workplaces
per year
Providing technical assistance to small construction sites engaged in a

construction project worth less than 300 million KRW (intimate support for
improving safety facilities and emotional support for raising safety awareness)
150,000 workplaces
per year
Intensively managing chemical-handling workplaces with fewer than 50

employees to prevent chemical accidents
10,000 workplaces
per year
Providing technical support (for improving safety facilities) and emotional support
(for raising safety awareness) to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees in
service industries at high risk for accidents
290,000 workplaces
per year
Construction
Chemical
Service
122
<Support for creation of CLEAN workplace>

Since October 2001, the government has implemented the CLEAN Program which provides financial
and technical support to workplaces with a relatively poor working environment so that they can improve
their safety and health facilities and thus create a safe and pleasant workplace.
Under this program, an official from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) visits a
workplace which has applied for risk assessment, conducts a risk assessment, and identifies dangerous
elements (Danger), dirty environments (Dirtiness) and difficult work (Difficulty) in the workplace. The
government subsidizes 50% of the cost of improving facilities and equipment within the limit of 20 million KRW.
As of October 2014, the government had provided facility improvement subsidies to 7,281 workplaces, bringing
the total number of workplaces subsidized since October 2001 to 95,041. Among them, 87,852 workplaces that
had successfully removed hazards were recognized as CLEAN workplaces and awarded certificates.
<CLEAN Workplace, before vs. after>
Part 5
3-2. Stronger protection of foreign workers and other groups vulnerable to

industrial accidents
In an effort to support the occupational safety and health of foreign workers, the
government installed a three-way interpretation system in five Foreign Worker Support
Centers, supplied health examination lists for foreign workers in ten foreign languages, and
provided interpretation services during health examinations. In 2013, the government
provided occupational safety and health education to 44,074 foreign workers in cooperation
with foreigner support organizations, vocational training institutions for newly arrived foreign
workers and so on. It also developed and distributed 51 kinds (105,000 copies) of education
materials for foreign workers in 13 foreign languages.
123
In order to prevent cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases caused by the aging of the
working population, heavy workloads and growing job stress, the government helped more
than 30,000 workplaces employing a large number of aged workers to take care of their
workers' health through specialized occupational health agencies in 2014. Moreover, the
government provided occupational safety and health education to 308,368 workers aged 50
and older, and developed and distributed 24 kinds (10,000 copies) of education materials,
including teaching plans, for aged and female workers.
124
III
Enhanced Prevention of Occupational Diseases
1. Chemicals control
1-1. Hazard and risk assessment and classification of chemicals
Every year new chemicals are distributed and used in Korea. There are also many existing
chemicals being used without full understanding of their potential hazards and risks. It is
therefore necessary to assess the hazards and risks of those chemicals and add them, as
appropriate, to the list of substances regulated under the Occupational Safety and Health Act
and manage them accordingly. In this regard, the chemical hazard and risk assessment
system was established in 2011 and has been operated since then.
On March 2, 2011, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) established the
methods and details of such assessment. Pursuant to the regulations, a working-level committee
KOSHA and a deliberation committee on chemical assessment was created in MOEL.
1-2. Establishment of chemical exposure limits

In a bid to strengthen employers' and workers' right to know, the government revised the
information on carcinogens contained in the list of exposure limits for hazardous chemicals in line
with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) in 2011
(MOEL notification no. 2011~13); added information on germ cell mutagenicity and reproductive
toxicity to the list in 2012 (MOEL notification no. 2012~31); and revised the list to reflect changes
in chemical exposure limits and hazard information in 2013 (MOEL notification no. 2013~38).
1-3. Strengthening the workability of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and warning labels
Institutional improvements were made to enhance the reliability of MSDS and warning
labels (Occupational Safety and Health Act amended and enforced on Jan. 26, 2012). In order
125
on chemical assessment was set up in the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute of
Part 5
regulations on chemical hazard and risk assessment, etc. which stipulate the procedures,
to implement and entrench the institutional changes across workplaces, since 2012, the
government has conducted inspections in relation to the entire range of MSDS and warning
label obligations that must be fulfilled by people who transfer and supply chemicals
(including manufacturers, importers and distributors) and employers who use chemicals.
* Main improvements include: rationalizing the MSDS and warning label systems by separating their obligators into
people who transfer and supply chemicals and employers who use chemicals; establishing the legal basis for punishing
those who prepare MSDS in a false or incomplete manner; and introducing the obligation to offer modified MSDS.
2. Working environment management

2-1. Providing guidance to ensure compliance and improve working environments
after working environment monitoring
The purpose of working environment monitoring is to regularly monitor and assess working
environments and address problems found as a result with a view to protecting workers'
health. Basically, monitoring is conducted more than once every six months for workplaces
where workers are exposed to any of the 190 chemical and other hazardous agents. However,
in the case of workplaces which have recorded an exposure level below the prescribed limits
twice in a row, monitoring may be conducted more than once every year. Workplaces found
to exceed the exposure limits as a result of monitoring are asked to improve working
environments related to the processes concerned.
<Number of workplaces receiving working environment monitoring by year (half-yearly)>
126
2-2. Evaluation of working environment monitoring and analysis ability

Only institutions that have obtained approval from MOEL after having the manpower, facilities
and equipment needed for monitoring and analysis are allowed to conduct working environment
monitoring. They are also required to verify the accuracy and precision of their working environment
monitoring and analysis through regular evaluations of their monitoring and analysis ability.
The results of an evaluation of their monitoring and analysis ability are combined with the
results of the previous evaluation to make a comprehensive judgment each time. Institutions
which have failed such an evaluation are subject to strict control, such as suspension of
operations, until they pass the next evaluation.
2-3. Evaluation of the reliability of working environment monitoring

In order to assess the accuracy and precision of the results of working environment
the reliability of monitoring results: where a suspected case of occupational disease occurs
of exposure to hazardous agents has markedly changed despite the fact that no change has
been made to working conditions, such as process equipment, working methods and
substances used; and where monitoring was conducted in a way that violated the monitoring
method. According to the results of the extra monitoring, workplaces found to exceed the
exposure limits are ordered to improve relevant facilities and equipment. By doing so, the
government is making efforts to improve the reliability of monitoring.
3. Employee health management

3-1. Support for small workplaces' special health examination costs
The special health examination costs of small workplaces with fewer than 10 employees are
subsidized from the industrial accident compensation insurance and prevention fund to
127
even though monitoring results show exposure levels to be below the limits; where the level
Part 5
monitoring, extra monitoring is conducted in the following cases that require evaluation of
promote special health examinations, detect suspected cases of occupational disease early and
enhance the reliability of the special health examination system.
3-2. Issuance of health management pocketbooks to job leavers

Since August 1990, the government has operated the health management pocketbook
system to allow workers engaged in manufacturing or handling 14 hazardous substances,
including asbestos, which cause a disease after a relatively long latency period to receive a
health examination without financial burden once every year even after leaving their jobs as
well as during employment (costs subsidized by KOSHA).
The system allows workers issued with a health management pocketbook to receive a free
health examination on a regular basis even when they are not engaged in the work concerned
due to separation, etc., and thus enables them to find any sign of occupational disease early
and receive treatment.
<Issuance of health management pocketbooks (Nov. 24, 2014)>
Total
Nickel
Benzene
Benzotrichloride
Benzidine
Dihydrochloride
Dust
Asbestos
Vinyl
chloride
Blast
furnace
coke
Cadmium
Chromate,
Dichromate
6,727
384
904
14
226
318
1,591
373
854
14
2,049
Moreover, the government simplified the issuance procedures by allowing health

management pocketbooks to be issued if any symptom (pleural plaques) caused by asbestos is
detected in a chest radiograph. It also made other institutional improvements, such as issuing
a health management pocketbook in the form of a card and improving the relevant electronic
database management system to check pocketbook holders (i.e. card holders) electronically.
128
IV
Strengthening Health Management of Workers
1. Enhanced prevention of work-related diseases

1-1. Technical support for prevention of musculoskeletal disorders
The government came up with recommendations concerning musculoskeletal disorders
(MSDs) in the late 1990s and provided guidance to workplaces to help them voluntarily
prevent such disorders. As MSDs became a social problem in 1992, a new provision (Article
24 (1) 5) was inserted into the Occupational Safety and Health Act on December 30, 2002 to
obligate employers to prevent MSDs. And the Regulations on Occupational Safety and Health
Standards, a subordinate statute, were amended on July 12, 2003 to stipulate concrete
measures, such as investigating hazards associated with work imposing a heavy strain on the
musculoskeletal system, improving working environments, reminding workers of hazards, and
Guide was put in place to entrench the MSD prevention system. The government has also
inspection activities to ensure employers' compliance with their prevention obligations.
1-2. Support for voluntary health promotion activities

For workplaces (business associations) which intend to conduct health promotion activities for
workers as part of their efforts to prevent work-related diseases, the government has subsidized
the costs of carrying out such activities to boost voluntary health promotion activities.
In 2014, a total of 740 million KRW was paid in such subsidies. MDS prevention activities
accounted for the largest share of all activities, which was followed by the activities of
improving daily habits at the organizational level, preventing cerebrovascular diseases and
managing job stress.
129
expanded technical and other support for prevention activities and conducted guidance and
Part 5
carrying out medical control and prevention and control programs. In addition, the KOSHA
1-3. Support for the spread of health promotion activities

In 2014, a total of 7,042 workplaces participated in the project to spread health promotion
activities for workers with the aim of efficiently preventing work-related diseases, including
cerebrovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders.
The participating workplaces raised their level of health promotion by reducing smoking,
creating a healthy drinking culture, promoting regular exercise, and improving nutrition and
stress management.
Moreover, the government held a best practice contest on occupational health activities (Jul.
10, 2014, 4 workplaces), compiled selected best practices into a casebook, and distributed its
copies to other workplaces. In 2014, the government spread the atmosphere of health
promotion and encouraged workers to be aware of the importance of health promotion by, for
example, certifying 20 workplace excellent in health promotion activities.
2. Support for health management in small workplaces

2-1. Establishment and operation of Workers Health Centers
Workers in workplaces with fewer than 50 employees are more often diagnosed with an
occupational disease as a result of health examination and are exposed to more hazards while
at work than those in medium and large companies. However, such small workplaces are not
obligated to appoint a safety manager, and thus have difficulties in occupational health
management (working environment management, work management and health
management). To address this problem, the government has operated Workers Health Centers
in major industrial complexes.
Workers Health Centers are located in areas easily accessible to workers and provide workeroriented collective occupational health management services, thereby increasing the accessibility
of occupational health services for workers in workplaces with fewer than 50 employees. In
130
2014, five new Centers (Daejeon, Busan, Southern Gyeonggi, Northern Gyeongbuk and Eastern
Jeonnam) were set up in areas (industrial complexes) with a high concentration of small
enterprises, bringing the total up to 15 Centers (Seoul, Western Gyeonggi, Eastern Gyeonggi,
Bucheon, Gwangju, Incheon, Daegu, Ulsan, Gyeongnam and Chungnam).
2-2. Technical guidance on health management in small workplaces

Technical guidance on health management is provided to workplaces with fewer than 50
employees, which have a poor working environment and weak financial conditions, through
private specialized institutions for health management.
In 2014, the government selected 30,000 workplaces less capable of managing working
environments and workers' health. Occupational hygiene management engineers and
occupational health nurses from 65 private specialized institutions for health management
visited those workplaces to provide basic occupational health services, such as health
average of 3 visits per workplace, 90,000 occasions in total).
Part 5
guidance, simple testing, health counseling and working environment management (annual
131
Improved Infrastructure for Industrial Accident Prevention
1. Establishment of the risk assessment system

In order to properly manage more diversified and complicated hazards in workplaces and
secure workers' safety and health, it is necessary to identify, assess, reduce and control hazards.
The risk assessment system is the starting point for systematic and effective hazard control.
The legal basis for the risk assessment system was laid by the Occupational Safety and Health
Act in 2009. From 2010 to 2012, the system was implemented only in designated areas on a
pilot basis. In 2012, related infrastructure was expanded with the establishment of the relevant
subordinate regulation (i.e. public notification). In 2013, the system went into full operation.
2009
2010
2011
Legal basis laid

(article 5 of
Occupational Safety
and Health Act)
Pilot program in five

industrial complexes
Pilot program in areas

under the jurisdiction
of 5 local offices
2012
Pilot program in areas
under the jurisdiction
of 22 local offices;
relevant subordinate
regulation (public
notification)
established; and
'workplace selfassessment support
system' set up
2013
In full operation
Legal framework
completed with the
introduction of a new
provision (Article 41-2
of Occupational
Safety and Health Act)
Workplaces are recommended to follow five steps to conduct a risk assessment. To give
workplaces easy access to this five-step risk assessment procedure, the government
developed and provided industry- and occupation-specific standard models and an electronic
system (KRAS, http://kras.kosha.or.kr) for workplace risk assessment.
132
<Risk Assessment Procedure>
Start
Step 1: Preparation & classification of work activity
Step 2: Hazards identification
Step 3: Risk estimation

Risk control action &
implementation
Step 4: Risk evaluation
No
Risk acceptability check
Yes
Completion
Part 5
Recording
Posting, notification,
etc., of information on
remaining hazards
As for risk assessment infrastructure, the government has provided various materials
needed for risk assessment. It developed workplace manuals (explanatory guidebooks),
sector-specific assessment models (284 kinds), casebooks (71 kinds), virtual experience
programs (10 kinds), etc., and established the risk assessment support system (on-line) to
allow workplaces to conduct a self risk assessment according to their level. In particular, a
separate risk assessment system was developed for workplaces using chemicals.
In addition, consulting is offered to workplaces upon request (trial assessment for some
dangerous work processes) and education is provided to employers and personnel in charge
of risk assessment to build up their risk assessment skills.
133
Review & revision
2. Promotion of win-win cooperation on occupational safety and

health(OSH)
2-1. Win-win OSH cooperation project
As the number of subcontracting cases is growing across all industries, safety and health
management for subcontractors is becoming increasingly important. To raise the level of safety
and health management at subcontractors, principal contractors and their subcontractors should
jointly conduct risk assessments and, based on the results, carry out accident prevention
activities in a systematic way, but, in reality, they only do so insufficiently.
In particular, in-house subcontractors often carry out highly hazardous work on behalf of
their principal contractors in the premise of the principal contractors, so it is difficult for such
subcontractors to effectively prevent industrial accidents through their own efforts alone.
Given this, principal contractors' cooperation and support are needed to ensure occupational
safety and health in their subcontractors' workplaces as well as theirs.
So in 2012, the Ministry of Employment and Labor launched the win-win OSH
cooperation project involving both large companies (principal contractors) and their
subcontractors. Under this project, a principal contractor is required to evaluate the
occupational safety and health conditions of its subcontractors and establish and implement a
safety and health management plan (program). And the competent local (district)
employment and labor office reviews and approves the safety and health management plan
and (with the help of relevant specialists) monitors its implementation to increase the
effectiveness of the program. In 2012, a total of 619 workplaces of the top 500 large
companies by sales (7,957 subcontractors and 274,377 workers) in the automobile, steel,
chemical, machinery and equipment manufacturing, electronic product manufacturing and
large-scale distribution industries participated in the project, and reduced their subcontractors'
accident rate by 42.41% as a result.
In 2013, the scope of industries required to participate in the project was extended to the
electricity and telecommunications and other manufacturing (food, textiles, etc.) industries. A
total of 801 workplaces of large companies (8,437 subcontractors, 279,867 workers)
participated in the project, and strengthened their responsibility for safety and health
134
management in their subcontractors. As a result, their subcontractors' accident rate and

fatality rate fell by 34.6% and 65.1%, respectively, over a year ago.
In 2014, KOSHA was put in charge of carrying out the project to further promote the
project and strengthen support for participating workplaces. At present, 883 large companies
(8,883 subcontractors) are participating in the project. KOSHA provides technical guidance
to all participating workplaces, sorts out workplaces showing insufficient progress and
conducts additional monitoring of those workplaces. All this is expected to improve
subcontractors' overall safety and health management capabilities and boost principal
contractors' sense of responsibility for safety management in their subcontractors.
<What is the win-win OSH cooperation project?>

The win-win OSH cooperation project is a project under which a large company (principal
contractor) establishes and implements a win-win OSH cooperation program (plan) together with its
subcontractor and then conducts a risk assessment for, and provides technical assistance to, the
latter's workplace.
companies compliance with their obligation to subcontractors under the IACI Act (Article 29) and strengthening
their social responsibility for occupational safety and health.
135
* This project aims to achieve mutual OSH development between large companies and SMEs by enhancing large
Part 5
subcontractor to improve occupational safety and health and prevent occupational accidents at the
<Main changes to the win-win OSH cooperation project and implementation procedure>
When the win-win OSH cooperation project was launched in 2012, local employment and labor offices were
responsible for its implementation. However, in 2014, KOSAH was put in charge of its implementation to
reinforce the project by, for example, providing stronger technical support to subcontractors.
Main changes
2013
2014
Number of participating workplaces: 801

workplaces
(466 in manufacturing and others, 335 in services)
Number of participating workers (estimate): 800

workplaces
(500 in manufacturing, 300 in services)
Workplaces required to participate:

- Among workplaces with 100 employees or more of
the top 500 large companies by sales, those in the
manufacturing, electricity, telecommunications,
service
(distribution and food services & accommodation)
industries and their in-house or outside
subcontractors*
Workplaces required to participate:

- Workplaces with 300 employees or more in the
manufacturing, electricity, telecommunications,
service
(7 major service industries) and transport &
warehouse industries and their in-house or outside
subcontractors*
* All in-house subcontractors and only outside

subcontractors with fewer than 100 employees which
voluntarily want to participate
(no more than 20 workplaces)
Implementation details
- MOEL operates the project and KOSHA supports
project operation by examining and evaluating
programs
(no on-site guidance)
* All in-house subcontractors and only outside

subcontractors which voluntarily want to participate (no
more than 20 workplaces). However, outside
subcontractors performing maintenance and repair work
periodically must be included.
The scope of industries required to participate in the
project was extended to the transport & warehouse and
five major service industries.
Implementation details
- KOSHA operates the project.
* MOEL receives applications for participation in the

project.
* KOSHA receives and examine programs, provides on-site

technical guidance and conduct evaluations.
- Contractors set up a system of supporting OSH

management in their subcontractors.
* MOEL holds project information sessions and

participates in examination and evaluation committees.
- KOSHA (MOEL) provides technical guidance to

contractors
(subcontractors) and checks improvements.
- Contrators implement a dedicated system of
managing joint cooperation.
136
Implementation procedure
Reapply
Complement
program
Unsatisfactory
Identify
subcontractors
Prepare
program
Parent
company
Parent
company,
subcontractors
Apply for
program
approval
Examine
program
Conduct risk
assessment
Parent
company
KOSHA
KOSHA
(MOEL)
Parent
company
subcontractors
Submit risk
reduction
measures
Parent
company
KOSHA
Provide on-site
technical
guidance
KOSHA
parent
company
Submit
implementation
results
Parent
company
KOSHA
Check
improvements
and evaluate
KOSHA
(MOEL)
2-2. Strengthening companies' safety and health responsibility to their

subcontractors
requiring them to provide information on hazards and risks associated with facilities, etc., to
regulations, when contracting out the work of maintaining, repairing or cleaning hazardous or
dangerous facilities, equipment, etc. And the scope of industries where a company is
obligated to take accident prevention measures for its subcontractors was extended from
construction and manufacturing to all industries.
In addition, the government is pursuing an amendment that would extend the scope of
dangerous places for which a principal contractor must take safety and health measures from
the current 20 places to all places. It will also tighten the punishment for companies that
violate the obligation to take safety and health measures when contracting out work.
137
their subcontractors and to check if their subcontractors comply with the relevant laws and
Part 5
The government strengthened companies' OSH responsibility to their subcontractors by
I
VI
Expanded
IACI&Coverage
andRelations
Enhanced Measures
Return-to-Work
Employment
Industrial
for Workers with Occupational Accidents
1. Overview
The Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (IACI Act) was enacted on November
5, 1963 and entered into force on July 1, 1964 to protect workers from industrial accidents
and work-related diseases. Under IACI, employers who have taken out insurance are exempt
from liability for compensation by paying insurance premiums, and workers with
occupational accidents are compensated directly by the government.
Ministry of Employment and Labor

Decision-making on programs and policies
Implementation Agency
- Korea Workers' Compensation &
Welfare Service (COMWEL)
Pay benefits
Pay IACI premiums

Claim benefits
Insurance Holder
- Employer
- Contractor
Guarantee livelihood security

Offer labor
Benefit Recipient
- Accident victim
- Victim's family
2. Measures taken to extend IACI coverage to non-standard

contracted workers
Non-standard contract workers still exist across a wide range of areas due to the
diversification of employment types, but lack actual protection from occupational accidents.
This has raised the need to continuously expand the scope of workers covered by IACI.
138
Among non-standard contracted workers who offer labor services in a similar way general
workers do, but had not been covered by the Labor Standards Act, etc., those in four
occupational areas (insurance agents, learning-aid tutors, ready-mixed concrete truck drivers
and golf caddies) who need protection from occupational accidents began to be covered by
IACI on July 1, 2008. And on May 1, 2012, the coverage was further extended to nonstandard contracted workers in another two occupational areas (delivery drivers and quickservice drivers) who face a particularly high risk of accidents due to the nature of their jobs.
Based on the results of commissioned research, the government has created measures to
apply IACI differently according to employment status in each occupational area and is now
working to amend the Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Accident Compensation
Insurance Act. Meanwhile, in order to boost the IACI coverage rate among eligible nonstandard contracted workers, the government is pursuing an amendment to the Industrial
Accident Compensation Insurance Act which would make institutional improvements, such
as restricting reasons for exclusion from coverage.
Part 5
3-1. Implementation of mid-term IACI rehabilitation service development plans

The ultimate goal of the government's IACI rehabilitation services is to bring workers with
occupational accidents back into the labor market. To do so, the government carries out
various services, including supporting accident victims' reemployment through vocational
training and helping them start up a self-supporting business.
The government provides return-to-work subsidies, etc., to employers to help workers with
occupational accidents return to their original workplaces. However, employers' skeptical
view on the physical functions and work ability of workers who had an occupational accident
has made it difficult for them to return to their original workplaces.
139
3. Reinforced rehabilitation services to enhance return-to-work

for workers with occupational accidents
In response, the government made a paradigm shift in its IACI policy by moving the focus
away from medical care and compensation toward rehabilitation. It provides various
rehabilitation services suited to the needs and characteristics of service users, namely workers
with occupational accidents, so that they can get back into the labor market and society quickly.
To that end, the government established the 2nd mid-term IACI rehabilitation service
development plan (2009~2011) and successfully accomplished 18 tasks in 4 strategic areas
according to the plan.
After that, in order to help workers with occupational accidents return to work and society,
the government came up with the 3rd mid-term IACI rehabilitation service development plan
(2010~2014) whose aim is to minimize disability in workers with occupational accidents and
ensure their return to stable jobs. The 12 tasks under 4 strategies are now under way as
planned. The government will continue to help workers with occupational accidents return to
work and society and become self-reliant by, for example, promoting medical rehabilitation,
expanding occupational rehabilitation and building rehabilitation infrastructure.
<Third mid-term IACI rehabilitation service development plan>
Strategies
Tasks
Connect workers with

occupational accidents
with rehabilitation services
from the beginning of
medical care
Promote specialized
rehabilitation treatment
provided by medical
institutions
Provide services
according to customized
rehabilitation plans
Strengthen affiliated
hospitals' specialty in
rehabilitation treatment
Create the practice of

providing medical
treatment that takes
account of rehabilitation
Promote rehabilitation
treatment by designated
medical institutions
Expand the psychological

rehabilitation program for
patients receiving
medical care
Expand support for the

costs of rehabilitation
treatment
Enhance the effectiveness

of the return-to-work
support system
Strengthen support for

workers with
occupational accidents to
help them return to their
original workplaces
Expand support for
vocational training during
medical care
Reinforce training and
employment services for
workers with
Actively develope jobs for
workers with
140
Strengthen follow-up
support after the end of
medical care
Expand support for health

management after
medical care
Expand social
rehabilitation services for
workers with
3-2. Expanded return-to-work support for workers with occupational accidents

In April 2012, the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (COMWEL)
introduced a program to assess the work ability of workers with occupational accidents and
issue a statement of fitness for work according to the results. Also it has been operating the
work ability enhancement program since July 2013. Under the work ability assessment
program, an industrial accident victim's present state of injury or disease, ability to perform
his/her original work, and so on are assessed using various assessment techniques, and based
on the results, a doctor specializing in occupational and environmental medicine issues a
statement of fitness for work, thereby giving employers assurance of his/her ability to
perform work. If an industrial accident victim is found unable to perform his/her original
work as a result of assessment, the work ability enhancement program which includes
providing job simulations to accident victims and strengthening their physical functions is
provided to help his/her return to his/her original work.
The two programs intended to help workers with occupational accidents back into the labor
medical treatment completed. The return-to-work rate for those medical care leavers, at 75.7%,
work rate, at 71.8%, was 23.6% higher than 48.2%, the figure for all medical care leavers.
< Return-to-work (original-work) rate for accident victims using work ability assessment and
enhancement programs>
141
was 17.5% higher than 58.2%, the figure for all medical care leavers. And the return-to-original-
Part 5
market have been proven effective. Of 291 accident victims using those programs, 259 had their
3-3. Enhancement of comprehensive services tailored to individual needs and

improved return-to-work rate
In 2011, the government started tailored comprehensive services to meet the diversified and
individualized rehabilitation needs of workers with occupational accidents. Individual rehabilitation
plans are established for workers with occupational accidents to meet their needs and
characteristics, and medical care, compensation and rehabilitation services that had been provided
separately are provided in a comprehensive manner to help accident victims return to work.
As a consequence, the return-to-work rate for workers receiving rehabilitation services has
continued to increase, reaching 58.2% in 2013, up 5.6%p from the previous year, and the
return-to-original-work rate also went up 4.1%p from a year ago to 48.1% in 2013.
<Unemployment period before returning to society and return-to-work rate>
(Unit: days, %)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Unemployment period before returning to society (days)
184.6
179.9
176.3
160.1
159.4
Return-to-work rate (%)
45.4
45.5
47.6
52.6
58.2
Return-to-original-work rate (%)
35.3
35.2
36.9
44.0
48.1
142
Part. 6
International Cooperation
in Employment and Labor Administration
1. Overview
International cooperation in the field of employment and labor can be largely classified into
exchanges with international organizations and other countries and support for developing
countries (ODA); reactions to FTA negotiations and effectuation; and support for foreigninvested companies in Korea and Korean companies overseas.
In response to growing demand for international policy coordination and exchanges in the
field of employment and labor in the aftermath of the global employment crisis, Korea has
taken an active part in international meetings, especially those organized by G20, ILO,
OECD and APEC. The Korean government uses those international gatherings as the
opportunity to share its best policy practices with the international community and promote
policy exchanges and cooperation with other countries.
Since its accession to the OECD DAC (Development Assistance Committee) in 2009,
Korea has made government-wide efforts to expand its cooperation with and support for
developing countries. In particular, it is beefing up cooperation mainly in the area of
vocational skills development as a rapidly growing number of developing countries are
aspiring to learn about the Korean growth model.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) is also involved in discussions on labor
standards and employment issues associated with international economic/commercial
relations, such as those governed by FTAs and WTO agreements. The FTAs that Korea has
concluded with other major countries include a separate chapter on the promotion of labor
rights, and it is in step with international efforts to improve human rights at work.
Moreover, MOEL provides assistance to foreign-invested companies in Korea and Korean
companies abroad whose number has been increasing
due to globalization so that they can manage their
labor affairs more systematically. More specifically, it
organizes information sessions and meetings on
policies and institutions, sends consulting teams to
provide on-site support and publishes information
materials for those companies.
144
2. Participation in activities of international organizations

2.1 ILO (International Labour Organization)
Korea became the ILO's 152nd member country in December 1991. At present, the ILO has
185 members.
Korea was elected as a member of the ILO Governing Body in 1996, five years after its entry
into the ILO. Recognized for its substantial contributions to the decision making process of the
ILO since then, Korea was reelected as a member of the Governing Body for the seventh
straight time at the ILC held in June 2014. By actively serving as Chair of the Governing Body
from June 2003 to June 2004, Korea also enhanced its national prestige within the ILO.
The Korean government consistently reviews its national laws and practices and pursues
their improvement in order to ratify ILO Conventions. So far, Korea has ratified 28 ILO
Conventions including the four Core Conventions: Minimum Age Convention (No. 138);
Discrimination Convention (No. 111); Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100); and Worst
Forms of Child Labor Convention (No. 182). The government makes active efforts to ratify
more ILO Conventions by continuing to examine the feasibility of ratifying conventions.
Part 6
2.2. OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)
its standing by, for example, serving as Chair of the Ministerial Council Meeting, the supreme
decision-making body of the OECD, in 2009. With Korea's enhanced prestige in the OECD, the
government has also taken an active part in discussions on employment and labor issues.
In 2014, MOEL participated in the ELSAC meeting, the meeting of the Working Party on
Employment, etc. During the meetings, it made comments on the OECD's research direction,
actively explained Korea's major policies and exchanged opinions with other member
countries in relation to the quality of jobs and policies for older workers.
Part. 6 International Cooperation in Employment and Labor Administration
145
International Cooperation in Employment and

Labor Administration
Since Korea became the 29th member country of the OECD in 1996, it has gradually improved
In addition, the Conference on Local Job Creation, co-organized by MOEL and the OECD,
was held on October 2014 under the OECD's Local Economic and Employment Development
(LEED) Program. During the conference, local employment experts from 12 countries,
including Korea, presented the findings of the study of local job creation they had jointly
conducted, and explored the direction that local employment policy should take.
3. G20 Labor and Employment Ministerial Meeting

At the 5th G20 Labor and Employment Ministerial Meeting held in Melbourne, Australia
on September 10~11, 2014, labor and employment ministers from across the G20 gave
presentations on their countries' key policies and discussed ways to coordinate policies under
the themes of creating better jobs, boosting the labor market participation of women and
youth and preventing structural unemployment.
In his keynote speech under the theme of creating better jobs, the Minister of Employment
and Labor said, The Korean government started a paradigm shift under which job creation is
put at the center of economic, industrial, welfare and education policies and all national policies
are reviewed in relation to job creation. He added that Korea had come up with the Roadmap
to 70% Employment Rate containing such features and was striving to improve both the
quantity and quality of jobs according to it. He also emphasized, Improving the quality of jobs
is as important as creating more jobs in order to achieve a 70% employment rate, and talked
about the Korean government's efforts to address the labor market dualism, such as by reducing
the proportion of non-regular workers and improving their working conditions. G20 delegates
participating in the meeting expressed great interest in Korea's employment policy.
The Minister of Employment and Labor actively met with delegates from other member
countries and international organizations on the fringes of the Ministerial Meeting. He had a
meeting with the Employment Minister of Australia to discuss ways to promote female and youth
employment and enhance cooperation between the two countries in the area of employment and
labor. He also had a meeting with the ILO Director-General to discuss ways for Korea's vocational
training to contribute to the international community. The meeting provided an opportunity to be
able to expand bilateral and multilateral exchanges in the area of employment and labor.
146
4. FTA negotiations
The Korean government has actively responded to the open, ever-liberalizing global
economy by seeking Free Trade Agreements in a preemptive manner to secure reliable
overseas markets and gain an international competitive edge.
Starting with its FTA with Chile, Korea signed a series of FTAs with large economies
around the world, including Singapore, ASEAN, India, the European Union and the United
States, all of which are already in effect. In 2014, FTAs negotiations with Indonesia and
Vietnam were underway.
Some FTAs, particularly with the US and the EU, contain a separate labor chapter that
specifies basic obligations, such as observing the 1998 ILO Declaration and prohibiting any
degradation of labor standards affecting trade and investment, and institutional arrangements
to ensure the implementation of the agreements, such as the establishment of a labor affairs
council (inter-governmental labor consultation body).
In March 2013, government officials from Korea and the United States convened the 1st
meeting of the Labor Affairs Council (LAC) under the Korea-US FTA in Washington, D.C.
And the 1st and 2nd Korea-EU FTA inter-governmental consultative committee and Civil
taking into full account their possible impact on domestic labor market conditions and on the
basis of labor supply and demand forecasts by occupation and so on.
5. Implementation of international cooperation projects

5.1. Policy advisory programs for employment and labor systems in developing countries
Korea came up with an ODA (official development assistance) advancement plan at the
government-wide level in October 2010, and has since pursued system reform to increase the
147

The government is developing country-specific strategies for current FTA negotiations,
Part 6
Society Forum were held in Brussel in June 2012 and in Seoul in September 2013, respectively.
scale and effectiveness of its ODA. Accordingly, MOEL took a step forward by shifting the
focus of support away from infrastructure, such as vocational training centers, and towards
software, such as laws and institutions, in the area of employment and labor.
In this context, MOEL started a policy advisory program in 2012 to support the
establishment of employment and labor systems in developing countries. This program aims
to assist developing countries in establishing strategies and policies and creating or improving
institutions in the area of employment and labor, including vocational training, occupational
safety and employment services.
Under the program, a joint advisory team consisting of former and incumbent public
officials responsible for establishing employment and labor policies and private specialists is
set up and provides assistance to facilitate the establishment of policies and institutions in
recipient countries. It is a specialized program built upon MOEL's expertise, which suggests
even role and macro-policy models for recipient countries.
In 2014, MOEL provided assistance in establishing the enforcement decree of the
employment law in Vietnam, the subordinate statutes of the occupational safety and health
law in Mongolia, and a master plan for vocational training in Uzbekistan. It also gave advice
to Mongolia and Myanmar in 2013 and Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the Philippines in 2012.
In order to increase the effectiveness of the policy advisory program, MOEL will step up
research efforts to investigate the employment and labor situation and demand in recipient
countries and link the program to grant and non-grant aid projects of the Korea International
Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Economic Development Cooperation Fund of Korea (EDCF).
5.2. Multilateral cooperation with international organizations

5.2.1. Cooperation with the ILO
The Korea-ILO Partnership Program aimed at conducting cooperation projects in the areas of
vocational training, occupational safety and health, labor migration, social security, employment
policy, etc., was launched as the Minister of Employment and Labor and the ILO Director-
148
General signed the MOU on the Korea-ILO Technical Cooperation Program in October 2013.
The Korea-ILO Partnership Program Fund was created with Koreas voluntary contributions
made toward the implementation of the Program, apart from its obligatory contributions to the
ILO budget. Since then individual projects have been carried out in the areas of vocational
training, social security, labor migration, employment and occupational safety and health under
the Program. The amount of contributions stood at 500,000 USD in 2004 and 800,000 USD in
2006, and since then it has stayed at around 1 million USD each year.
The Korea-ILO Partnership Program supports various forms of cooperation projects, such as
R&D projects, capacity-building projects, technical consulting and specialist dispatch, in order
to accomplish the four strategic objectives set by the ILO towards realizing the goal of Decent
Work, that is, fundamental rights at work, employment, social dialogue and social protection.
The Korean government contributes to policy and institutional improvements in developing
countries and their capacity building through such projects. Korean partner institutions are
also involved in the projects.
In particular, the government has transferred Korea's outstanding policy experience and
knowledge in HRD, especially to developing countries in the Asia Pacific region, and assisted
them in introducing social insurance and building their operational capacity in order to
Part 6
support the establishment of a social safety net in those countries.
standards in Laos, which resulted in job competency standards and evaluation modules in the
construction, automobile and IT sectors in that country. It also helped introduce employment
insurance in Thailand and Vietnam and industrial accident compensation insurance in
Cambodia and Sri Lanka (tripartite agreement in 2013).
The Korea-ILO Partnership Program pursues capacity building and policy and institutional
improvement and development in Asian developing countries. It also provides the
opportunity to inform other countries of Korea's policy and institutional experience and
contributes to improving Korea's standing and national image in the international community.
149

More specifically, the government contributed to the development of national skills
5.2.2. Cooperation with the OECD

The Korean government has been participating in the Korea-OECD Labor Market Research
Project with an annual contribution of 100 million KRW since 2004. In particular, between
2012 and 2014, Korea took part in the OECD review of labor migration policies and made a
voluntary contribution of 75,000 EUR to this research project.
5.2.3. Cooperation with the World Bank

Cooperation between Korea and the World Bank began in May 2009 when the Ministry of
Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the World Bank signed an
administrative agreement for the Multi-Donor Trust Fund on growth and employment. Under
the agreement, Korea contributed a total of 1.5 million USD to the World Bank and supported
employment policy research, capacity-building projects for developing countries, etc., for
four years from 2009 to 2012.
In 2011, the World Bank and MOEL successfully organized a joint labor market policy
course for labor policy officials from 12 Asian countries, which was well received by
participants. Boosted by its participation in projects implemented under the World Bank's
Multi-Donor Trust Fund, in 2012, MOEL, together with the World Bank, started a project to
build capacity in employment policy in developing countries and has since been carrying out
research projects, knowledge-sharing seminars, etc.
5.2.4. Cooperation with the ASEAN

Korea hosted the ASEAN Plus Three HRD Forum in 2013, laying the foundation for
cooperation with the ASEAN in the field of technical skills. The government also held the followup forum in 2014 through which it shared Koreas policy experience with ASEAN member states
to help them develop national skills standards and expanded the basis for future cooperation.
As a leading country in terms of vocational training in the Asia and Pacific region, Korea will
continue to fulfill its expected roles, respond to demand for cooperation, and share its policy
experience and skills with ASEAN member states in the area of vocational skills development.
150
5.3. Bilateral cooperation in employment and labor (MOU conclusion)

Korea has pursued bilateral cooperation in the area of employment and labor mainly
through the MOUs that it has concluded, especially with developing countries, to share its
experience in economic development and reinforce mutual cooperation. After signing an
Arrangement for Cooperation with Vietnam in 2004, Korea entered into MOUs with
Mongolia and the Philippines in the area of employment and labor and has since been
conducting cooperation activities under those MOUs.
In 2014, Korea signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Vietnam to specify their mid- and longterm cooperation activities in the area of employment and labor. Instead of requiring only the
Korean government to provide support to Vietnam, this LOI sets out areas of cooperationincluding supporting labor management at Korean companies in Vietnam and helping Korean
young people find work in Vietnam-in which the Vietnamese government should assist
Korea, thereby paving the way for a reciprocal relationship between the two countries.
Since 2010, Korea has relied on setting up a joint committee rather than on entering into an
MOU to actively expand its bilateral cooperation with individual countries. For example,
Korea built a cooperative relationship with the Middle East in the area of vocational training
by setting up the Korea-UAE joint committee and the Korea-Oman joint committee. It
them of its excellent vocational training system.
6.1. Expanding support for labor management at foreign-invested companies in Korea

MOEL helps foreign investors better understand Korea's labor atmosphere by holding
information sessions and meetings on Korea's employment and labor policies and revised
labor laws. It also makes efforts to increase communication opportunities by, for example,
responding to their inquiries and questions.
151

6. Support for labor management at Korean companies overseas

and foreign companies in Korea
Part 6
will continue to expand exchanges with Middle East countries by consistently informing
In 2014, the Minister of Employment and Labor joined in person a consultative seminar for
foreign-invested companies (organized by the American Chamber of Commerce
(AMCHAM) in Apr. 2014), and an information session for CEOs of foreign-invested
companies (organized by MOEL in Sep. 2014) to explain the Korean government's
employment and labor policy direction.
In November 2014, the Minister met with AMCHAM president, EUCCK president and
other key figures from foreign-invested companies to explain Koreas labor market situation
and policies and listen to difficulties facing foreign-invested companies in Korea.
In addition, the government consistently provides employment and labor information to
foreign-invested companies in Korea. In 2014, it published a casebook on enterprises with an
excellent industrial relations culture in English and disseminated its copies to relevant
organizations and foreign-invested companies, and held the forum for foreign-invested
companies HR managers five times to explain Koreas labor laws and institutions and
industrial relations culture.
In the meantime, the labor-management cooperation workshop in which union leaders and
executives of foreign-invested companies participated was held twice and well received by
foreign company people.
6.2. Expanding support for labor management at Korean companies overseas

The government provides labor management services to Korean companies which will operate
or are already operating abroad, both before and after their overseas expansion so that they can
better adapt to local conditions, create win-win industrial relations and achieve business success.
First of all, as preliminary labor management services, the government provides information
on other countries' cultures, labor laws and institutions, etc., to companies planning to do
business in those countries. In 2014, the government organized information sessions for
companies wanting to advance into Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Myanmar.
152
Moreover, the government publishes a new or revised edition of a guidebook on labor laws and
institutions in other countries and distributes its copies to companies which will operate or are
operating in those countries. At present, labor management manuals for 21 different countries are
available and information on recent labor market trends, etc., in selected countries is offered
online to help companies get instant updates on the labor market situation in those countries.
Meanwhile, the government sends labor management consulting teams to countries in Asia and
Latin America where many labor-intensive, small Korean manufacturers are operating, in order
to facilitate their adaptation to local conditions. Each consulting team, composed of officials from
government agencies and other relevant institutions and independent specialists, provides labor
management consulting to individual Korean companies, visits government agencies, including
the Ministry of Labor, in the relevant foreign country to convey the difficulties faced by Korean
companies, and organizes information sessions, meetings and tripartite seminars there. In 2014,
the government sent such consulting teams to Vietnam and Myanmar.
In addition, in the case of foreign countries with many Korean companies, labor attaches
assigned to those countries make efforts to prevent and respond promptly to labor disputes by,
for example, providing labor management education to Korean companies whenever necessary.
Part 6
153
Appendix
Major Statistics
1. Per Capita GNI and Growth Rates (by Year)

Nominal Terms
Year
GNI
100 million Won
Real GNI Growth

Rate(year-onyear)
Growth Rate(%)
Per-capita GNI
billion U.S. Dollars
10,000 Won
U.S. Dollars
2005
9,126,086
890.9
1,896
18,508
1.9
2006
9,624,466
1,007.3
1,990
20,823
3.8
2007
10,400,918
1,119.3
2,140
23,033
5.5
2008
11,044,143
1,001.7
2,256
20,463
0.1
2009
11,489,818
900.2
2,336
18,303
2.5
2010
12,665,798
1,095.4
2,563
22,170
7.0
2011
13,405,298
1,209.7
2,693
24,302
1.6
2012
13,915,955
1,234.9
2,783
24,696
2.7
2013
14,410,635
1,316.0
2,870
26,205
4.0
* Source: Ministry of Strategy and Finance(www.mosf.go.kr)
2. Economically Active Population (by year)

(Unit: 1,000 persons, %)
Population aged 15 years and older

Year
Economically active Population

Employed
Unemployed
Economically
Inactive
Population
Economically
Active
Unemployment
Population
Rate(%)
Rate(%)
2007
39,170
24,216
23,433
783
14,954
61.8
3.2
2008
39,598
24,347
23,577
769
15,251
61.5
3.2
2009
40,092
24,394
23,506
889
15,698
60.8
3.6
2010
40,590
24,748
23,829
920
15,841
61.0
3.7
2011
41,052
25,099
24,244
855
15,953
61.1
3.4
2012
41,582
25,501
24,681
820
16,081
61.3
3.2
2013
42,096
25,873
25,066
807
16,223
61.5
3.1
* Source: Statistics Korea
156
3. Wage
Minimum wage
Year
(unit: won, %, thousand persons)
Minimum wage (hourly)
Increase rate
No. of workers applied
No. of beneficiaries
2008
3,770
8.3
15,351
2,124
2009
4,000
6.1
15,882
2,085
2010
4,110
2.75
16,103
2,566
2011
4,320
5.1
16,479
2,336
2012
4,580
6.0
17,048
2,343
2013
4,860
6.1
17,510
2,582
2014
5,210
7.2
17,734
2,565
2015
5,580
7.1
18,240
2,668
* Source: MOEL
Survey on wages
(unit: thousand won, per month, year-on-year, %)
Year
Nominal Wage
Real Wage
Consumer Price Index
2008
2,569
2,718
94.523
2009
2,636(2.6)
2,714(-0.1)
97.129(2.8)
2010
2,816(6.8)
2,816( 3.8)
100.0(3.0)
2011
2,844(1.0)
2,734(-2.9)
104.0(4.0)
2012
2,995(5.3)
2,818(3.1)
106.3(2.2)
2013
3,111(3.9)
2,889(2.5)
107.67(1.3)
Appendix
1) Figures in ( ) are year-on-year increase rates.

2) Real wage = (nominal wage/consumer price index) X 100
* Source : MOEL [Labor force survey at establishments], Statistics Korea [Consumer price survey]
4. Working Hours
(unit: per month, in thousand won, %)
All employees
Year
Temporary &
daily employees
Regular employees
Contractual hours of work
Overtime hours
2009
176.1 (-0.3)
184.4 (-0.2)
169.3 ( 0.2)
15.1 (-5.0)
119.3 (-3.7)
2010
176.7 ( 0.3)
184.7 ( 0.2)
168.3 (-0.6)
16.4 ( 8.6)
115.4 (-3.3)
2011
176.3 (-0.2)
182.1 (-1.4)
168.5 ( 0.1)
13.6 (-17.1)
122.5 ( 6.2)
2012
174.3(-1.1)
179.9(-1.2)
167.2(-0.8)
12.8(-5.9)
122.3(-0.2)
2013
172.6(-1.0)
178.1(-1.0)
165.6(-1.0)
12.5(-2.3)
122.5( 0.2)
Note: Figures in ( ) are year-on-year increase rate
Appendix
157
5. Labor Disputes
(In case, day)
Year
No. of Disputes
No. of Illegal Disputes
No. of Work Days Lost
2007
115
17
536,285
2008
108
17
809,402
2009
121
11
626,921
2010
86
14
511,307
2011
65
429,335
2012
105
13
933,267
2013
72
637,736
* Source : MOEL
6. Industrial Accident
(In person, %)
Year
No. of employees
(in thousand)
No. of the injured
No. of deaths
2007
12,529
90,147
2,159
0.72
1.72
2008
13,490
95,806
2,146
0.71
1.59
2009
13,885
97,821
1,916
0.70
1.38
2010
14,199
98,645
1,931
0.69
1.36
2011
14,362
93,292
1,860
0.65
1.30
2012
15,548
92,256
1,864
0.59
1.20
2013
15,449
91,824
1,929
0.59
1.25
1) Accident rate : no. of the injured/no. of workers x 100

2) No. of deaths per 10,000 workers : (no. of deaths/no. of workers) x 10,000
* Source : MOEL
158
Accident rate(%)
No. of deaths per

10,000 people
II
Organizational Chart
<2014. 4.8.>
Appendix
Appendix
159

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2014

Minister of Employment and Labor

Geography and Demographics (2013)

Economic Growth Rate : 3.0%

Major Labor Indicators (2013)

2014 Employment and Labor Policy in Korea

1. Implementation of employment-friendly policies

III. Creating Vibrant Workplace through Tailored Employment Services and

IV. Building a Close-Knit Employment Safety Net

1. Improvement of the working hour system

III. Minimum Wage System and Establishment of Basic Employment Conditions

IV. Non-regular Workers' Employment Security and Addressing Discrimination

V. Promotion of Workers' Welfare

II. Establishment of Foundation for Win-Win Labor-Management Cooperation

1. Strengthening of central tripartite dialogue and local quadripartite cooperation

III. Establishment of Fair and Responsible Industrial Relations Culture

1. Efficient and preventive management of labor-management conflicts

2014 Employment and Labor Policy in Korea

IV. Improvement of Industrial Relations Laws and Systems

V. Establishment of Rational Industrial Relations in the Public Sector

II. Safety Management in Accident-Prone, Vulnerable Sectors

1. Intensive control of occupational accidents

III. Enhanced Prevention of Occupational Diseases

IV. Strengthening Health Management of Workers

1. Enhanced prevention of work-related diseases

V. Improved Infrastructure for Industrial Accident Prevention

II. Organizational Chart

Major Policy Agenda for 2014

Major Policy Agenda

Help women fully show their abilities

Social safety net

Expand workfare for low-income people

Build a new employment and

2014 Employment and Labor Policy in Korea

1. Increase job opportunities for youth

Spreading competency-oriented hiring and HR management

Creating conditions to make SMEs attractive to young people

Expanding the realm of jobs for young people

2. Help women fully show their abilities

Major Policy Agenda for 2014

Innovating vocational education/training using National Competency Standards (NCS)

Providing customized services to women who desire to be reemployed

130 in 2014) and introduce the return-to-work academy for

women (provisional name).

Spreading part-time and flexible work

Life Act II: Helping retirees find their second careers

2014 Employment and Labor Policy in Korea

Major Policy Agenda for 2014

4. Expanding workfare for low-income people

70 in 2017) and make it a spatial integration model in which many

Strengthening efforts to guarantee basic working conditions

Improving the practice of employing non-regular workers

Part. 1 Major Policy Agenda for 2014

5. Build a robust employment safety net and reduce industrial accidents

Creating an accident-free safe workplace

2014 Employment and Labor Policy in Korea

2014 Korea's Labor Market Trend

<Number of the employed by year

<Employment growth in selected countries

* Source: Statistics Korea, Economically Active Population Survey

* Source: Statistics Korea, Economically Active Population Survey

2014 Employment and Labor Policy in Korea

<Employment rate for those aged 15 and over (%)>