At a glance
- On 5 February 2024, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) released its labour inspection plans for 2024.
- The MOEL plan to:
- enhance the judicial process;
- conduct ad hoc labour inspections focused on four major illegal practices; and
- introduce follow-up inspections and ad hoc labour inspections based on anonymous reports.
- Details of its labour inspection plans are expected to be released by the MOEL soon.
This article has been reproduced with the permission of the authors Weon Jung Kim, Ki Young Kim, Sun Ha Kweon, Paul Cho and Hoin Lee at Kim & Chang.
On 5 February 2024, the MOEL released its labour inspection plans for 2024 as follows:
Enhancing judicial process
The MOEL will apply the principle of immediate judicial action or an administrative fine without a corrective order being imposed against a company for intentional and/or repeated violations of relevant laws and infringement on the employees’ health and civil rights.
In addition, if the aggregated amount of overdue (unpaid) wages for the employees is KRW1 billion or more, or the number of the impacted employees is 50 or more, a special labour inspection will be conducted.
Conducting ad hoc labour inspections focused on ‘four major illegal practices’
The MOEL announced that it would focus on eradicating ‘our major illegal practices,’ namely, delayed payment of wages, discrimination, including maternity leave protection, long working hours, and unfair labour practices.
In addition, the MOEL announced that, in deciding on ad hoc inspections this year, it will monitor IT and platform companies, large hospitals, etc, where a large number of young workers are employed as well as companies where compliance with labour and employment laws is likely to be perceived as falling short of the MOEL’s expectations. The Seoul Regional Labour Office will also conduct ad hoc inspections of sports clubs, while the Jungbu Regional Labour Office will undertake the same for subcontractors in the gaming industry.
Introducing follow-up inspections and ad hoc labour inspections based on anonymous reports
The three types of labour inspections are regular, ad hoc and special inspections, but the MOEL has established a ‘follow-up inspection’ as a new type of labour inspection. The purpose of this follow-up inspection is to strengthen the management of companies that repeatedly violate the laws even after receiving a labour inspection and/or a corrective order.
Moreover, the MOEL will conduct ad hoc inspections based on anonymous reports from current employees of a company starting this year.
Details of its labour inspection plans are expected to be released by the MOEL soon. In this regard, we will monitor the government’s future announcement and provide an update on the details.
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