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2005 Plan for Supply & Demand of
Foreign Workers
On March, 2 (Wednesday),
the Foreign Worker Policy Committee (FWPC, Chairman:the Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination) deliberated
and decided 2005 Plan for Supply & Demand of Foreign Workers that includes the types and size of business eligible for
the introduction of foreign workers.
In principle, hiring foreign workers is a supplementary measure limited to cases
where employers fail to hire native workers.
Accordingly, with regard to the size of inflow of foreign workers for
2005, only the additionally required foreign workers(18,000 persons)by businesses will be allowed. As for the existing foreign
workers including illegal residents, the entry will be allowed in line with the departure of the workers.
The newly
entering 18,000 workers will all be assigned to the Employment Permit System for Foreigners(EPS) and the size of inflow of
foreign workers for the second half of this year will be re-adjusted after a review of data on departure of illegal residents,
the size of inflow of foreign workers, etc. during the first half of this year.
Also, the government devised measures
to improve the EPS such as abolishing 1 Workplace, 1 System Principle, shortening the obligation period of seeking native
workers and increasing the approved number of foreign workers in order to achieve a smooth supply and demand of foreign workers
and resolve inconveniences on the part of employers.
● Under the 1 Workplace, 1 System Principle, employers who
use industrial trainees are not allowed to use the EPS => Abolition of the 1 Workplace, 1 System Principle
●
The approved number of foreign workers for businesses with less than 10 workers is limited to 2~5 persons and also limited
up to 50% of native workers => the number is applied to businesses with less than 5 workers
● The obligation
period of seeking native workers: 1 month => 3~7 days(by industry)
Also, various measures were formulated to reduce
the number of illegal residents that is an obstacle to the government's foreign workforce policy.
The government:
●
provides administrative guidance to employers such as departure information to prevent foreign workers with the status of
sojourn given under the 2003 legalization of illegal residents from becoming illegal workers as the expiration of period of
sojourn is Aug. this year.
The government also focuses on curbing the number of illegal residents through an on-going
joint crackdown led by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labor and the police.
● plans to preferentially
include foreign workers who voluntarily depart Korea before the expiration of period of sojourn in the list of foreign job-seekers
and shorten the grace period of re-entry from 1 year to 6 months in order to induce voluntary departure of foreign workers
within the period of sojourn.
● allows employers to legally employee foreigners as many as the number of illegal
foreign workers they sent back in order to break the vicious circle of continuous illegal employment of foreign workers.
●
aggressively uses criminal punishments and increases fines against employers who are involved in human rights violation, a
delay in payment of wages or repetitive employment of illegal residents.
KRW 1m~10m => 2m~10m
● encourages
sending countries to make efforts to reduce the number of illegal residents by terminating a contract with sending agencies
whose rate of illegal residents exceeds 20%
Average Monthly Wages and Working Hours for 2004 Revealed
The Ministry of Labor released the Monthly Labor
Statistics Survey on March 8. The survey results show that as of December 2004, the average monthly wage increase rate for
enterprises with 5 or more regular employees stood at 6.0percent, which is a 3.2percentage point decrease from last year's
9.2percent.
The Real Wage Index (as of 2000), adjusted to take inflation into account has risen by 2.3percent from
115.2 in 2003 to 117.9.
The wage increase rate at workplaces employing 300 or more workers topped the average rate
of 6.0percent with 9.1percent. Large companies with 500 or more employees led the upward pressure on the rate.
The
survey also indicates that average monthly working hours was reduced by an hour to 197.2 hours (2,366 hours a year or 45.4
hours a week) from 198.2 hours per month(2,378 hours a year or 45.6 hours a week) in the previous year.
The number
of people newly employed exceeded the number of people laid off in December. Some 94,000 people found full-time jobs in the
month while 98,000 people were released from their duties.
Labor Economics Division (TEL : 02-503-9709~10)
The Ministry of Labor begins the selection of agencies responsible
for administering the Korean Language Proficiency Test under the EPS.
According to Article 7 of the Act on the Foreign
Workers Employment, etc., from August 17, 2005 onward, foreign workers who want to get a job in Korea under the Employment
Permit System (EPS) must take and pass a Korean Language Proficiency Test.
The Korean Language Proficiency Test, postponed
till one year after the implementation of the EPS (August 17, 2004) due to the time to establish infrastructure necessary
to develop and administer it, will be used from August 17, 2005 in earnest.
The Ministry of Labor reflected experts'
opinion on the Korean Language Proficiency Test through two meetings with relevant organizations (December 2, 2004/February
24, 2005) and recently finalized the Plan for the Korean Language Proficiency Test.
The Plan for the Korean Language Proficiency
Test under the EPS focuses on:
- developing a unique test that meets its purpose of selecting foreign workers objectively
※ Existing tests are
inadequate to be used in selecting foreign workers since they are too difficult and mainly focused on evaluating social and
cultural language ability.
- using the existing Korean Language Proficiency Test agencies as primary agencies to quickly
develop and safely administer the test yet designating at least two agencies to ensure competition
- making the designated
agencies directly execute the test in the sending countries to ensure a fair and transparent process
As the first step
of the implementation of the test, the Ministry of Labor publicly invites agencies from March 9, 2005(Wednesday). The public
invitation is for 10 days (March 9~18, 2005) and any agency that specializes in developing and executing a Korean Language
Proficiency Test and has professional staff and organization required to develop and administer a test for foreign workers
is eligible for application (submission of a proposal). The ministry will select two agencies with highest scores among many
that submit a proposal based on their ability to develop a proper test and administrative and financial infrastructure to
administer it.
Also, upon the selection of the agencies, a task force team for the development of the Korean Language
Proficiency Test will be set up to develop the test and finalize the administrative procedures accelerating final preparation
work for successful implementation of the Korean Language Proficiency Test from August 17, 2005.
[Division in Charge]
Foreign Workforce Policy Division Deputy Director Kim Su-Jin, TEL : 2110-7080
10 Industry Level Human Resources Development Sector Council
launched
Industries can directly take part in solving
the quantitative, qualitative imbalance of workforce supply and demand by playing a leading role in the recently launched
Industry Level Human Resources Development Sector Council (hereby Sector Council).
The Korean Chamber of Commerce
and Industry and the groups representing 10 major fields of key industries have formed the Sector Council, where many academics
and researchers are also participating. The launching ceremony was held on March 9 at the COEX Intercontinental Hotel from
10:00~13:00, and 200 Sector Council members and Ministers and Vice-Ministers from 3 Ministries (Minister of Commerce, Industry
and Energy, Minister of Labor, Vice-Minister of Education and Human Resources Development) participated in the event.
The
Sector Council is a public organization established to support industry level human resources development rather than at the
enterprise level. Representatives from the enterprises, the prime entities which have the demand for skilled workforce, will
play the central role within the Sector Council, but academics, researchers, and labor experts, who are in charge of workforce
supply, will also participate in the Council to conduct various human resources development operations such as balancing supply
and demand at industry levels, education and training, and collaboration between industry and academia.
This event
was simultaneously the first meeting for the Industrial Human Resources Committee (hereby Committee), a joint decision making
body, and the joint launching ceremony for the Sector Council. The Committee is a newly established general management and
mitigating body, and it will be jointly run along the National Human Resources Committee (temporary name).
At the
event, the ‘Plan to Promote the Industry Level Human Resources Development Sector Council’, a joint public-private
effort, was announced as well.
The plans include projects such as promoting enterprise participation by introducing
the Sector Council membership system and the member enterprise support system. The Sector Council also plans to strengthened
internal and external promotional activities such as opening a website (www. shrdc.co.kr) and hosting an international symposium
(June, 2005).
The Sector Council is expected to play a central role in promoting human resources development which
is led by the private sector and centered on the supply side, solving the supply and demand imbalances in industries, jobs,
and levels, and improving industrial competitiveness.
Efforts to Expand Employment of the Disabled at Public Enterprises
and Government Subsidiaries
On March 14, the Ministry of Labor and the Korea
Employment Promotion Agency for the Disabled (KEPAD) held the ‘meeting for public enterprises with a less than 2% employment
rate of the disabled’ at the International Meeting Room of the Gwacheon Government Complex. The purpose of the meeting
is to support 54 public enterprises and government subsidiaries with employment rates for the disabled at less than 2%, so
that these institutions can achieve a 2% employment rate within 2005.
The Participatory Government has made strong
efforts to improve employment policies for the disabled, and as a result, the employment rate for the disabled in the public
sector surpassed the mandatory employment rate of 2%(at 2.04%) for the first time in December 2004.
However, for public
enterprises and government subsidiaries, the employment rate of the disabled was only 1.83% in December 2004, and the employment
rates for the 54 of the 84 public institutes were less than 2%. The public sector was criticized for its lack of initiative
in setting an example for employing more people with disabilities.
In continuing with the policy for mandatory employment
of the disabled in government establishments that was in effect since last year, the government has designated a course of
action for public enterprises and government subsidiaries to achieve the mandatory employment rate for the disabled. The KEPAD
will resolve any difficulties or problems that public establishments might face in the process of employing the disabled.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor and the KEPAD is conducting the ‘campaign to resolve the less than 1% employment
rate of the disabled for enterprises’ to expand employment of the disabled in the private sector. As a part of these
efforts, there are also plans to hold a ‘workshop for directors of human resource departments of large enterprises’
for enterprises with very low employment rates of the disabled in March.
[Office in charge] Assistant Director Lee
Eun Young, Division for the Employment of the Disabled (TEL : 2110-7985)
Information on Industrial Safety & Health for Migrant Workers
to Be Provided Online
The Ministry of Labor plans to provide the safety
booklet and other informative materials on industrial safety and health for foreign workers from March to raise their consciousness
of occupational safety. 5 different types of materials will be available in 10 languages including Chinese and Vietnamese,
with 119,000 copies expected to be released for distribution.
The materials include the "safety guidebook" about various
safety rules, educational video tapes and CDs, and the "safety booklet" which explains precautions against occupational diseases
resulting from Normal Hexane and other toxic substances.
Local labor offices, the Korea Occupational Safety &
Health Agency, and religious organizations for foreigners will be used as the main channels for distribution of the materials.
The materials will also be provided online through the websites of religious organizations and foreign embassies so that illegal
foreign workers can have access to related information more easily.
The Ministry of Labor will make greater efforts
to protect the rights and interests of migrant workers by continuously providing information related to their occupational
safety, establishing grievance counseling system through cooperation with NGOs, and enhancing safety education on precautionary
measures against accidents.
Kwon Jae-rok, Industrial Safety Division (TEL : 02-504-2052)
See the attached
file for detail.
(File Name : Information on Industrial Safety & Health for Migrant Workers to Be Provided Online.hwp)
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