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Subject   February 2018 - The Employment System for Foreign Workers and Available Remedies for Violation of Their Legal Rights
The Employment System for Foreign Workers and Available Remedies for Violation of Their Legal Rights

I. Introduction
Korea is now an “aged society” in addition to having low fertility rates, and has been introducing more foreign workers due to the resulting labor shortages. As of the end of October 2017, 2.14 million foreign nationals reside in Korea, accounting for 4.1% of the total population. That number is predicted to exceed 3 million within four years, which will be equivalent to 5.8% of Korea’s total population.
There are about 1.42 million foreign workers who remain in the country under an employment relationship. More specifically, there are 294,000 non-professional workers (20.7 percent), 833,000 overseas Korean workers (58.7 percent), 48,000 professionals (3.7 percent) with legal visa status, and 244,000 illegal workers (17.2%).
If foreign workers are to continue working here, they should be protected under labor law without discrimination. In practice, however, this does not happen the way it should. Some of the reasons include: ① the difficulty foreign workers have in identifying their rights in Korea because of their lack of ability to communicate; ② the absence of freedom of movement due to strict controls under the Immigration Act; ③ the limitations they have on choosing their workplace; and ④ the institutional problems that make legal remedy difficult to receive for violation of their rights. It is a matter of basic human rights for foreign workers to work where they are entitled to a life worthy of human beings and the right to pursue happiness, and the nation and the company have an obligation to protect these rights. Labor rights guaranteed by the Labor Standards Act are the minimum protections for human dignity, so that foreign workers can work in pursuit of this happiness.
In the following section, I will look at Korea's employment system for foreigners, remedies for violation of their rights, and ways to make improvements.

II. Employment Systems in Major Countries & Global Standards
1. Global Standards
Korea joined the United Nations (UN) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in September 1991. It has ratified seven of the eight UN human rights treaties (year of Korean ratification in parentheses): ① the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966); ② the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966); ③ the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1978); ④ the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1984); ⑤ the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990); ⑥ the Convention for the Prevention of Torture (1995); and ⑦ the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2009). The UN Convention on the Rights of Foreign Workers (1990), which the Korean government has not yet ratified, contains provisions that would require Korea to change its current law on foreign workers’ human rights to meet global standards. However, since the Convention on the Rights of Foreign Workers is an internationally-recognized standard for labor rights, it is an important reference point for policymaking on foreigners in Korea.
Korea has also ratified the following ILO conventions: ① Convention No. 111 on Employment and Occupational Discrimination (1998) and ② Convention No. 19 on Equality of Treatment for National and Foreign Workers as regards Workmen’s Compensation for Accidents (2001). Korea has not yet ratified the 97th Foreign Workers Convention (of 1949) and the 143rd Convention on Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions, of 1975). The 97th Migrant Worker Convention allows family companions, but the Korean Employment Permit System does not. The 143rd Convention on Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) includes provisions that Korea cannot accept: illegal workers cannot be discriminated against; foreign workers can accompany their families; and illegal workers have the same social security protections as legal workers.

2. The Foreign Employment Systems in Major Countries

In Germany, foreigners make up about 8.7% of the total population and are an essential part of the workforce, maintaining harmonious economic activities with domestic workers. In order to prevent domestic conflict and reduce social costs, professional foreign workers who can contribute to economic development are accepted on a preferential basis to stay for a long period of time while non-professional foreign workers are controlled to maintain a short-term cyclical system. Germany has also been embracing policies friendly to German workers from overseas. In 2005, an integrated immigration law was enacted which seeks to integrate foreign workers by providing them with German language and vocational skills education.
In Japan, foreigners accounted for 2.1% of the total population in 2015, with governments there maintaining conservative policies on their introduction as part of the workforce. Trainee systems are in place that do not recognize trainees as workers. Entry of non-professional foreign workers is strictly controlled to keep social costs down, while professional foreign workers are welcomed. There are primarily three ways Japan minimize the number of non-professional, non-Japanese foreign workers. First, simple work allows hiring of foreign workers, but only as industrial trainees through a “trainee practice system” rather than as workers. In effect, foreigners are employed for up to three years as short-term circulating trainees considered vulnerable under international labor standards. Second, Japan invites overseas Japanese workers from South America to work as permanent residents. Third, domestic foreign students are actively employed as short-time workers, able to work up to 20 hours a week and mostly in the services sector.
The United States was populated by immigrants to become the nation it is today, and the government still allows more than one million foreigners entry every year: 800,000 immigrants and 200,000 foreign workers. Foreign workers are accepted into three categories: about 85,000 H-1B (professional foreign workers), about 66,000 H-2B (non-farm workers) per year, and workers in agriculture (H-2) who are accepted without restriction in numbers in order to deal with the scarcity of labor in rural areas. Such non-professional foreign workers are used in short-term circulation for work in the agriculture and services sectors for a period of up to three years. After this period, they must leave the country. On the other hand, professional foreign workers are institutionalized to encourage them to stay long-term.
In Singapore, about 30% of the total population is made up of foreign workers. Singapore divides foreign workers into professional, semi-professional, and non-professional. People in the first two categories are strongly encouraged to stay, while non-professional foreign workers are used short-term for labor contracts of up to 4 years. In order to recruit a worker for simple work, the employer must pay a security deposit of SGD 5000 per person and pay a monthly employment levy. In addition, quotas are set for each workplace dictating how many foreigners they can hire. The professional workforce can stay on an unlimited basis as long as they are employed.

III. Korea’s Employment System for Foreign Workers
In Korea, non-professional foreign workers are currently introduced and managed through the Employment Permit System, while professional foreign workers are managed according to their immigration status in accordance with the Immigration Control Act. It is difficult to overcome the social conflict and backwardness of the industrial structure from having the Employment Permit System manage only non-professional workers.
We need to look at the employment systems for overseas Kore

File   2022032917246_950.pdf
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