The Ministry of Employment and Labor noted on the 26th that a total of 112 legal violations were identified at 81 domestic small and medium-sized enterprises last year.
This labor inspection was conducted from October of last year to January of this year, targeting 200 small and medium-sized enterprises.
The targeted corporations are those where illegal activities are suspected or where complaints and reports of unfair labor practices have been made. Business sites involved in conflicts between labor and management were also included.
The key inspection items for this labor inspection were exceeding the work hour exemption limit for union members, operating cost subsidies, and illegal collective agreements.
As a result of the labor inspection, violations related to collective agreements numbered 54, the most significant. Specifically, there were 40 cases of failing to report collective agreements, 12 illegal collective agreements, and 2 cases of non-compliance with collective agreements.
A Ministry of Employment and Labor official said, “Collective agreements are fundamentally supposed to be negotiated autonomously by labor and management, but they must proceed within the legal framework,” adding that “the cases identified this time are acts that fall outside the law.”
Additionally, 29 cases of exceeding the work hour exemption limit and 20 cases of operating cost subsidies were also identified. While these cases may superficially appear beneficial to the union, they can reduce the company’s interference in union activities.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor official noted, “Since the introduction of multiple unions, companies may provide certain unions with increased exemption limit hours as a kind of preferential treatment,” and added, “Operating cost subsidies are similarly problematic.”
The work hour exemption limit allows union leaders to engage in union activities during their working hours legally. The limit is set considering the size of the business sites.
In addition, the Ministry of Employment and Labor identified 4 cases of unfair contracts and 5 other violations, including unpaid wages and failure to prepare labor contracts.
The government issued corrective orders for the 81 business sites where legal violations were identified and 67 of these have completed corrections so far. The remaining 14 are currently in the process of making corrections.
Minister Kim Moon-soo said, “We plan to continue strengthening labor inspections to establish the rule of law across industrial sites,” and added, “We will respond strictly to illegal activities, regardless of whether they involve labor or management.”