Recruitment of employees’ children first… 63 cases of collective bargaining for employment inheritance caught

Investigation of 1057 collective agreements for workplaces with 100 or more employees
‘Corrective order’ policy with the resolution of the Labor Relations Commission

Photo = Getty Images Bank.

According to the labor-management collective agreement, Company A is required to hire the children of full-time retirees and long-term employees first. When hiring a new employee, one child of the employee must be hired first.

Company B grants additional points in the recruitment process to the children of the current employee and to the person recommended by the employee. Even when new hires are made, special additional points are given if there is a request from a retired retiree.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 7th that as a result of investigating 1,057 collective agreements at workplaces with 100 or more employees, it identified illegal ‘priority and special employment provisions’ in 63 collective agreements.

The types of violations identified as a result of the investigation are △Retirees, long-serving workers, people who are injured outside of work, and △Recruitment of immediate family members of employees (58 cases) and △Recruitment of unions or employee recommenders (5 cases).

However, the provision of special employment for the survivors of industrial accidents was not included in the crackdown as it was judged to be valid in the Supreme Court’s all-inclusive decision in August 2020.

As a result of classifying collective agreements by upper-level organizations, the number of workplaces belonging to the KCTU was high at 68.3% (43). There were 18 workplaces of the Korea Federation of Trade Unions, and two were not affiliated with upper-level organizations. By size, workplaces with less than 300 employees accounted for 47.6% (30), accounting for the largest number, followed by 21 businesses with 300-999 employees and 12 businesses with 1,000 or more employees.

Even if it is a collective agreement concluded by agreement between labor and management, if it violates the law, the administrative agency may issue a ‘corrective order’ with the resolution of the Labor Relations Commission pursuant to Article 31 (3) and Article 93 (2) of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. can get off Failure to do so will result in a fine of not more than 5 million won.

This corrective action is in accordance with the government tasks of the Yun Seok-yeol administration. The Yun government has announced a policy to rectify unfair collective agreements to ensure that young people are not subjected to unreasonable discrimination in the labor market and are guaranteed fair employment opportunities.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik said, “The ‘employment inheritance clause’ discriminates between job seekers and other union members without any reasonable reason, and it is an unfair act that frustrates young people who are taking their first steps into the labor market. We will make sure that fairness of employment opportunities can be established through this.”

By Kwak Yong-hee, staff reporter [email protected]