1.
Objectives of Labor Law
When employing workers in Korea, laws
regarding hiring, salary, and dismissal shall be observed. The Labor Law of
Korea has been enacted in order to provide workers with adequate protection, to
protect the basic structure of business activities, and to build a solid and
stable economy based on the principles of capitalism.
2.
Labor Law Categories and Applications
The Labor Law is largely divided into
four categories: Individual Labor Relations Law, Collective Industrial
Relations Law, Cooperative Industrial Relations Law, and Employment Law.
Depending on its characteristics, each law sets the standards for labor
contracts and relations between employers and workers, enables autonomous
dispute resolutions between labor and management by guaranteeing workers' right
to organize a union, and ensures mutual benefits to labor and management by
promoting the participation and cooperation of both employers and workers.
Category |
Acts |
No. of Employees |
Remark |
Individual Labor Relations
Law |
Labor Standards Act |
5 or more |
- Some provisions are applicable to work places with 4 or fewer
employees
- Where the employer employs 10 or more workers, the rules of
employment shall be prepared
|
Minimum Wages Act |
All work places |
- 2015 minimum hourly wage: KRW 5,580
|
Occupational Safety and
Health Act |
General |
All work places |
- Not all provisions are applied to certain businesses and work
places with fewer than 5 employees
|
Person in charge of safety
and health management |
100 or more |
- 50 or more employees for certain businesses
|
Safety and health officers,
etc. |
50 or more |
- Some business categories are excluded
|
Occupational health and
safety committee |
100 or more |
- Some businesses with 50 ~ 99 employees are included
|
Industrial Accident
Compensation Insurance Act |
All work places |
- Some businesses with fewer than 5 employees in the agriculture,
forestry, and fishery industries are excluded
|
Equal Employment Opportunity
Act |
All work places |
- Some provisions are not applied to work places with fewer than 5
employees
|
Collective Labor-Management
Relations Law |
Trade Union & Labor
Relations Adjustment Act |
All work places |
|
Cooperative Labor-Management
Relations Law |
Act on the Promotion of
Workers' Participation and Cooperation |
30 or more |
- Regardless of the existence of a labor union, all businesses or
work places vested with the right to determine working conditions shall
establish a labor-management council
- Work places with 30 or more employees shall implement a grievance
settlement committeeman
|
Employment Related Law |
Employment Insurance Act |
All work places |
- Some businesses with fewer than 5 employees in the agriculture,
forestry, and fishery industries are excluded
|
Employment Promotion and
Vocational Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act |
50 or more |
- Businesses shall employ disabled persons at the obligatory
employment ratio within 5/100 of the total number of workers
- Companies shall pay contributory charges in the case of
non-compliance, but receive incentives in cases they hire disabled
persons at over the obligatory ratio
|
Act on Prohibition of Age
Discrimination in Employment and Elderly Employment Promotion |
300 or more |
- Companies shall maintain a minimum ratio of senior citizens
employed to total employees (2% for the manufacturing industry, 6% of
the transportation and real estate industries, 3% of other industries
|
Information sourced from www.investkorea.com
|