Effect of S. Korea's law to prevent companies' abuse of non-regular workers
- 5 years ago
"기간제•파견 제한하니 용역•도급직↑…고용 규모는↓"
In 2007, the South Korean government enforced a law to prevent companies from' abusing non-regular workers.
It was designed to protect fixed-term employees and workers dispatched by agencies.
But some say the move was counterproductive.
Our Ko Roon-hee takes a closer look.
The law limiting companies' use of non-regular workers, including fixed-term employees and workers employed through an agency,... has increased the number of regular workers, but it has also led to a decrease in the total number of workers, and led to more subcontracted workers who fall into categories not covered by the law.
This is according to a report released on Monday by the Korea Development Institute, a state-run think tank.
The report compared how more than 5-thousand-8-hundred companies hired employees in 2005 and after 2007, when the government enforced a law to prevent the abuse of non-regular workers.
The law included measures to protect non-regular workers by for example, mandating that after a certain time period, companies had to change the status of temporary workers to permanent workers.
The Korea Development Institute says this law actually decreased the total employment size.
They also found out that companies hired more people not protected by the law...including contract workers.
"We can divide the total workers into 3 categories, regular workers, non-regular workers protected by the law, and non-regular workers unprotected by the law. It's like pushing the middle part of a balloon. As the South Korean government decreased the number of non-regular workers protected by the law, workers in other two categories increased."
The researcher says a lot of effort is needed to prevent the abuse of non-regular workers, but the law has some limits.
Therefore, the researcher says it is more important to think about what companies need in order to lessen their burden when transitioning from non-regular workers to regular ones.
"For companies to change non-regular workers to regular ones, a lot more flexibility is needed in working conditions for regular workers. Looser limits on work hours is one of many examples."
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
In 2007, the South Korean government enforced a law to prevent companies from' abusing non-regular workers.
It was designed to protect fixed-term employees and workers dispatched by agencies.
But some say the move was counterproductive.
Our Ko Roon-hee takes a closer look.
The law limiting companies' use of non-regular workers, including fixed-term employees and workers employed through an agency,... has increased the number of regular workers, but it has also led to a decrease in the total number of workers, and led to more subcontracted workers who fall into categories not covered by the law.
This is according to a report released on Monday by the Korea Development Institute, a state-run think tank.
The report compared how more than 5-thousand-8-hundred companies hired employees in 2005 and after 2007, when the government enforced a law to prevent the abuse of non-regular workers.
The law included measures to protect non-regular workers by for example, mandating that after a certain time period, companies had to change the status of temporary workers to permanent workers.
The Korea Development Institute says this law actually decreased the total employment size.
They also found out that companies hired more people not protected by the law...including contract workers.
"We can divide the total workers into 3 categories, regular workers, non-regular workers protected by the law, and non-regular workers unprotected by the law. It's like pushing the middle part of a balloon. As the South Korean government decreased the number of non-regular workers protected by the law, workers in other two categories increased."
The researcher says a lot of effort is needed to prevent the abuse of non-regular workers, but the law has some limits.
Therefore, the researcher says it is more important to think about what companies need in order to lessen their burden when transitioning from non-regular workers to regular ones.
"For companies to change non-regular workers to regular ones, a lot more flexibility is needed in working conditions for regular workers. Looser limits on work hours is one of many examples."
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.