The government is currently pushing for the passage of two legislative packages, with the goal of passing them in March or April.
1. Framework Law for People performing work
The first bill is a “framework law for working people(people performing work)”. It aims to establish a basic level of protection for self-employed(including dependent self-employed, platform workers, and freelancers), who are not classified as employees and are therefore not covered by the Labor Standards Act.
The bill reads as follows:
l Declaration of Rights(Dignity and Equality, Safety and Health, Fair Compensation, Work-Life Balance, The right to organize),
*not obligations of employers
l Prohibition of Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and Workplace Harassment
l OSH * Reasonable efforts clause
l Terms and Conditions (T&C), Standard Contract
l Full payment of fees
l Rationality review upon termination
l access to one's personal information
l Right to organize *not right to collective bargaining, strike
l Separate proceedings - Alternative Dispute Resolution
* Ruling out the remedy proceedings for workers
Proponents argue that, since existing labour rights do not cover all workers, some form of limited protection is unavoidable.
However, in our view, this bill is similar to the one promoted by the Conservative government, which was impeached under martial law. Rather than offering effective protection against the specific challenges posed by new forms of work, it is filled with vague, superficial, and weakly binding declarations. It does not provide labor law protections beyond those afforded in civil transactions. An even greater problem is that, rather than universally expanding existing labor rights, this bill creates a separate, inferior status—a “third intermediate category” of “working people(people performing work, not workers)”—and could lead to “de-laborization.”
Regarding the status of platform workers, South Korea's Supreme Court has recognized Tada drivers as employees, and the court is expected to issue a ruling on the employment status of delivery riders shortly. This bill might roll back protections for platform workers compared to the court ruling.
So, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is calling for the expanded application of existing labor laws and the expansion of labor rights free from discrimination (such as non-discriminatory social insurance and non-discriminatory occupational safety, etc.).
2. Presumption of Employment status clause
The second bill proposes introducing a presumption of employment system into the existing labor law (the Labor Standards Act).
The bill reads as follows:
l A person who “provides labor directly for another person’s business” is presumed to be an employee.
l However, this does not involve revising the definition of an employee. It is stipulated in the Labor Inspector Regulations.
l It applies only to civil litigation (since most labor protections in Korea are enforced through criminal and administrative proceedings, this will apply to matters of unpaid wages).
l Even if the presumption of employee status is introduced, the actual determination of employee status will still follow the criteria established in existing Supreme Court precedents under the Labor Standards Act; therefore, in substantive terms, the situation may not differ significantly from the current one.
We believe the presumption clause is important, but we doubt whether the government has any real commitment. The point of concern is that the government is proposing the bill as part of a package with “Framework Law for People performing work”. In fact, the government is giving higher priority to the “Framework Law”.
The South Korean government has stated that,
- This does not mean that the definition of a worker is being expanded.
- Nor does it mean that the scope of protection under the Labor Standards Act is being expanded.
- The focus is on addressing the issue of Bogus self-employed workers (who have a strong personal subordination)
- Platform workers and freelancers will be subject to the “Framework Law”.
- Given the strong opposition, it is difficult to guarantee that the employment status presumption bill will pass.
Unlike the presumption of worker status system, which aims to expand labor law protections for platform workers, the South Korean government’s proposed solution to the platform issue is, unfortunately, more aligned with the “Framework Law” approach.
The South Korean government did not submit a response to the Brown Report survey(They said it would be difficult for them to take a position beyond what is specified in the Framework Act), which suggests that, despite its proposal to introduce a “Presumption of Employment status clause”, the government does not hold a proactive stance on this issue. So, we need to make even greater efforts.