|
The hiring ratio of aged workers in
companies with 300 workers or more has risen 0.49 percentage points year on year to 4.19%.
The hiring ratio of the aged is on the increase. The smaller the
companies, the more aged workers they tend to employ.
The average hiring ratio of aged workers among workplaces with
300 workers or more has stood at 4.19%, up 0.49%p from the year earlier. It is also revealed that the larger the workplaces,
the lower their hiring ratio tends to be. By size of workplace, workplaces with 300~499 workers showed an average hiring ratio
of 6.14%, workplaces with 500~999 workers 5.98%, and workplaces with 1,000 workers or more 3.17%.
By industry, five
industries, including the telecommunications(0.61%), financial and insurance(1.00%), manufacturing (1.82%) industries, recorded
a lower ratio of aged workers to the total workers than the standard hiring ratio, whereas seven industries, including the
real estate and renting(13.7%), service (10.19%), transportation (8.46%) industries, showed a higher ratio./.
* Standard
hiring ratio by industry : 2% for manufacturing, 6% for real estate and transportation and 3% for other industries
If
all of the companies failing to meet the standard hiring ratio increase their hiring of aged workers to the standard hiring
ratio, this would create jobs for 21,000 aged workers annually.
Currently, the number of workers and the number of
aged workers in workplaces with 300 workers or more totals 1,728,000 and 72,000, respectively. If companies with 300 workers
or more, which do not meet the standard hiring ratio of aged workers comply with the standard hiring ratio, this would create
additional employment for around 21,000 aged workers.
Among the reasons for companies not to hire aged workers, no
suitable jobs for the aged (45%) was cited as the biggest reason, followed by personnel regulations unfavorable for the employment
of the aged such as retirement age limits(24%), difficulty of newly hiring the aged due to on-going restructuring (23%), difficult
financial conditions (1%) and others (7%).
The Ministry of Labor will provide more guidance for workplaces failing
to meet the standard hiring ratio and come up with a comprehensive plan for the employment of the aged within this year.
Bill on Non-regular Workers
◈Background
Non-regular workers have sharply increased with changes such as the increase in labor market flexibility in Korea.
The government has felt the need to come up with measures to
redress discrimination against non-regular workers in working conditions and welfare and limit the overuse of them.
◈ Main contents
The main purpose of the legislation on non-regular
workers is to redress unreasonable discrimination against non-regulars and restrict the overuse of them, while balancing it
with the effort for labor market flexibility.
The main contents of the legislation are as follows;
(a) The
bill stipulates the ban on discrimination against non-regular workers such as fixed-term, part-time, and dispatched (agency)
workers, and sets up a correction mechanism in the Labor Relations Commission.
(b) The period to hire a fixed-term
worker will be limited to up to three years to restrict the overuse of them. In the event that a fixed-term worker is hired
for more than three years, dismissing the worker will not be as easy as before because there is a provision imiting dismissal
of dispatched workers. When there is a reasonable reason for the extended use of the same fixed-term worker, however, an employer
can use a fixed-term worker for more than three years.
(c) An employer will be prohibited from making a part-timer
work overtime without the worker’s approval. The extended working hours will be limited to 12 hours a week.
(d)
Job category for dispatched workers will be greatly widened, as the revised law will take a negative list, which means that
worker dispatch will be allowed for all jobs other than those currently prohibited.
(e) A dispatched worker should
not be discriminated against without any rational reason, and though the dispatch period can be extended from two years to
a maximum of three years, the employer cannot use a new dispatched worker for the same job before three months has passed
since the end of the three-year dispatch period.
(f) Employers will have much greater responsibility for illegal dispatch
of workers. In the event of an illegal worker dispatch such as using a dispatched worker over three years, the using employer
will have to directly hire the dispatched worker.
◈ Current plan
The government will submit the bills to the general session of the National Assembly
this year as the two bills were deliberated and decided at the cabinet meeting on November 2. 2004.
Confirmation of the government bill on guaranteeing workers’
retirement benefits (introduction of retirement pension)
MOL announced that it would propose the bill
on guaranteeing workers’ retirement benefits (introduction of retirement pension) to the general sessions of the National
Assembly this year, now that the bill was confirmed at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The bill is aimed at introducing a retirement pension system and expanding the application of the
retirement benefit system to workers of workplaces with less than five employees.
The retirement pension system will
take into effect from December 1, 2005. Given domestic companies’ corporate accounting practice, a new system can be introduced in
early 2006 only if it is implemented at the end of 2005.
Expansion of the retirement benefit system to workplaces
with less than five employees will be made at a time decided by a Presidential Decree between 2008 and 2010. Employers’
contribution will start half the current level and will be gradually adjusted upward, as stipulated by the Presidential Decree.
The retirement pension is expected to benefit both workers and employers. Workers will no longer fear the possibility
of not receiving the retirement benefit in the event of the bankruptcy of their company, now that the pension fund will be
managed by not the company itself but a financial institution. They can accumulate wealth while being allow to pay the tax
for the pension fund when they receive the fund. They can receive the fund as pension or lump sum retirement benefit after
retirement.
Employers can have greater visibility in managing costs for workers’ retirement. In case of a DC
(Defined Contribution) pension, they will have only to make a certain amount of contribution. A financial institution will
take care of managing the fund, which means easing the employers’ burden. Managing workforce will be more flexible.
The wage peak system aimed at prolong employment by reducing wages is likely to be introduced. Employers’ contribution
to the Wage Claim Guarantee System will also be lessened as a result of reserving pension fund outside their companies.
For
a society as a whole, now that the three-floor old age income guarantee system of the National Pension, Retirement Pension,
and Individual Pension is established, it will be able to brace for the aging of the society, which is taking place fastest
among the OECD member countries.
Permanent foreign residents to receive treatment as a national at immigration check
Permanent foreign residents will be checked the
same as Koreans at the local immigration counters instead of the immigration counters for foreigners at Incheon International Airport. The Justice Ministry announced the measure on Tuesday.
Consequently, permanent foreign residents, mainly Chinese
who have live in Korea and their family members, will not have to wait in long lines at foreigners' immigration counters
in the nation's largest international airport.
Permanent foreign residents are currently guaranteed the freedom of
getting jobs here, the renewal of staying permits when it expires without having to leave Korea, and exemption of reentry
permits when returning to Korea within one year compared to general foreigners in the immigration control law.
Currently,
approximately 15,000 foreigners are staying in Korea as permanent residents, of whom 99 percent are Chinese.
|
