▲ People want to make transition to a permanent position

Last year, the television drama ‘Mi-saeng’ was very popular and helped to develop national sympathy for the plight of part time or temporary office workers. The main character ‘Jang Guerae’, was a contract worker for 2 years at an international company, and the episodes often reflected on the social realities people in his position often face. As a result of the many issues raised in the programming, the government announced a labor reform package entitled ‘A Comprehensive Plan for Temporary Workers’ as a means of addressing the growing concerned public opinion. The actor ‘Yim Si-wan’ who played ‘Jang Gue-rae’ even appeared in the advertisements that announced the new labor reforms. As a result, the changes have been coined the ‘Jang Gue-rae law’. However, not everyone is pleased with the reforms. The Dankook Herald (DKH) investigated the contents of the new policy, the problems with them and compared them with the labor laws of other countries.

The main thrust of the Jang Gue-rae law can be summarized as follows: Temporary employees who work for 2 years can have their contracts extended for up to an additional 2 years depending on their age. Moreover, their responsibilities can be expanded and the law clarifies their criteria and procedures for a layoff. The government insists this policy is made with the best interest of
the temporary workers as it guarantees employment circumstances by raising the end of contract bonus, reinforces dismissal conditions, vitalizes reemployment of the aged and increases the opportunities for more specialized jobs.

Labor groups, however, disagree with the new labor law. They contended that temporary workers don’t need an extension of their temporary appointments but rather require stable full time employment. They contend the changes are only
good for companies, because expenses such as pension investments for irregular workers are cheaper for a company than those associated with full time employees. They also contend that the new law makes it more convenient for companies in terms of layoffs and therefore aggravates the problems associated with irregular working conditions.

Essentially labor groups believe that the biggest problem with the Jang Gue-rae law is that it has no practical effect for solving the problems of temporary workers because it merely extends opportunities for more service under the same
unstable conditions. The law also has the public questioning whether the changes were made with the plight of temporary workers in mind. The crux of the new law is that it extends temporary service periods for contracted employees from 2 years to 4 years in accordance with their age. While on the surface we can say this looks beneficial, the truth of the matter is, it has actually exacerbated the
problems of workers in Korea.

The law has arguably exacerbated the layoff of permanent employees rather than improve employment stability for temporary workers by making it easier for companies to operate with greater employment flexibility. Essentially, while trying to offer better treatment for temporary workers, they have effectively lessened the protection of existing permanent workers. While the intentions of the new law were genuine, the resulting problems of the temporary worker contract extensions are real. Employees have to work at least 4 years now before they have a chance to be considered a permanent worker and even then, the results are not guaranteed.

DKH interviewed Geum Hee-jung (representative, the administrative office) to learn more about what people think about this law. “The situation of temporary workers has not changed much,” she said. “It’s quite ironic that Jang Gue-rae works as a temporary worker for a long time before being considered a permanent employee in the TV show and yet he supports extending the service period for temporary workers from 2 years to 4 years.” “Even worse is that the Ministry of Employment and Labor who are promoting the policy, has created more irregular workers using Jand Gue-rae,” she said when referring to the advertisements. DKH inquired about her thoughts on better solutions to reduce the number of temporary workers. “It is important not to make youth slaves of work. The organization called ‘Saving Jang Gue-rae’ opposes the new policy changes and instead insists on increasing the minimum wage to 10,000 won to guarantee better working conditions for temporary workers,” she said.

The employment of irregular workers is also an issue of concern in many other countries. They however, make genuine efforts to solve this problem. In Japan, they modified the labor contract gradually in order to minimize the disadvantages
experienced by irregular workers. Also, in the case of Germany for instance, the government revised the labor laws and generously supported the idea for subcontractors to receive equal profits under the terms of an agreement between The Tripartite Commission and the country’s strong labor unions.

To compensate for the defects of this faulty law, a proper system that both punishes and rewards companies must be established. The system must punish employers who abuse its authorities to hire and fire temporary workers and offer
rewards those who show a higher rate of conversion from temporary to permanent employees. Also, our government should examine how other countries try to solve this problem. Of course any rational policy which is suitable for our unique domestic circumstances can be stagnated as a result of confrontation between labor, employment, and government. However, it should not be used as a reason not to move forward with changes. By understanding the plight of temporary workers and adopting a better approach, we can at least try to find real harmony in the relationship between labor and companies in Korea and improve working conditions for everyone.