The Economic and Social Labor Committee (Economic Social and Labor Committee), a social dialogue organization directly under the President, stated on the 8th that it must establish a system of 'continued employment obligation,' gradually raising the retirement age to 65 by 2033. If workers want to continue working after retirement age, the business sites must consider the workers' health, work attitude, and so on to accept this.
The continued employment committee under the Economic Social and Labor Committee announced on this day at the Economic Social and Labor Committee in Jongno District, Seoul, its recommendations regarding the 'institutionalization of the obligation of continued employment for the elderly.'
The recommendations announced on this day stipulate that business sites are obliged to employ workers who wish to continue working after the current statutory retirement age of 60 until the age of 65. This takes into account the age for starting to receive national pension benefits.
The implementation date is based on the premise that legislation will be passed this year, allowing for a grace period of two years until 2027. After that, the retirement age will be increased by one year every two years from 2028 to 2031, and starting in 2032, it will be extended by one year every year. Thus, the target age for the continued employment obligation will be 65 by 2033.
The recommendations from the public committee serve as a compromise between the management and labor sectors. The management has argued for selective reemployment after retirement, while labor has demanded that the statutory retirement age be set at 65. However, the recommendations from the public committee are not compulsory.
Chairperson Lee Young-myeon noted, "I am well aware that the recommendations from the public committee are unsatisfactory to both the labor and management sectors," adding, "We cannot overlook the rapid changes in demographic structure, including entering an ultra-aged society where those aged 65 and older exceed 20% of the total population last December, and the complicated reality of youth employment."
The public committee members stated that when establishing the continued employment obligation system, they must adhere to principles such as alleviating the dual structure of the labor market, harmonizing with youth employment, enhancing the vitality of the labor market, and ensuring participation of labor and management in the operation of the system.
Chairperson Lee stated, "Regarding the alleviation of the dual structure of the labor market, the continued employment obligation system should not be concentrated solely on specific workers in large corporations or the public sector," and emphasized that considerations must be made to ensure that job opportunities for young people entering the labor market are not infringed upon, and that the productivity and vitality of the nation, corporations, and workers are improved.
The continued employment committee has been discussing continued employment issues with the participation of labor, management, and government commissioners for about a year since its launch in June last year. The public committee's recommendations announced on this day are not a consensus agreement among labor, management, and government. Among labor, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is the only organization participating in labor-management-government dialogue. However, after declaring a complete withdrawal from discussions following the '12·3 emergency situation' last year, they decided to suspend related discussions until the new government takes office in June.