9 in 10 local governments caught violating labor law for irregular workers; 1,833 on 364-day contracts

Labor law violations against irregular workers were found at nine out of 10 local governments inspected, a government probe has revealed. Authorities uncovered cases in which fixed-term workers were denied allowances and severance pay, as well as widespread use of so-called "contract splitting" — a practice of repeatedly issuing short-term contracts of 364 days to avoid legal obligations triggered at the one-year mark.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Monday announced the results of a targeted inspection into working conditions for irregular workers at local governments, saying 113 labor law violations were found across 28 of the 30 local governments examined.

The inspection, which began March 11, targeted 30 basic local government units identified through a survey by the Office for Government Policy Coordination as having a high proportion of fixed-term workers employed for 11 months or more but less than one year, or as showing signs of contract-splitting practices.

The probe found widespread discriminatory treatment of fixed-term workers. Inspectors identified cases in which fixed-term employees performing the same or similar duties as permanent public-service workers were denied job allowances, family allowances, holiday bonuses, seniority pay and welfare points. The violations involved three institutions, 66 workers and approximately 100 million won ($65,100).

Inspectors also found cases in which fixed-term workers who had effectively worked for more than a year through repeated short-term contracts were denied severance pay of 2.5 million won. Additional violations included 10 cases of failing to conduct mandatory sexual harassment prevention training, as well as instances of unsigned employment contracts, unpaid wages and unpaid overtime allowances.

Problematic hiring practices were found at every local government inspected. A total of 2,117 fixed-term workers at 27 institutions had been hired on contracts of 11 months or more but less than one year, of whom 1,833 were on 364-day contracts. Seven institutions had not introduced a pre-screening system for hiring irregular workers, and three others that had adopted the system hired 240 fixed-term workers without going through the required review process.

The ministry issued immediate corrective orders for all violations found and said it would pursue legal action against institutions that fail to comply. It also plans to conduct repeated on-site guidance visits to address contract-splitting and other unfair hiring practices.

In the second half of the year, the ministry plans to expand regular inspections to 200 public-sector entities — including public institutions and their subsidiaries — drawing on tips submitted to an online counseling center for reporting unfair public-sector practices, which has been operating since April, as well as findings from a survey on irregular employment and wages in the public sector.

"Contract splitting and similar practices in the public sector can no longer be tolerated in the name of custom," Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon said. "We will build workplaces, starting with the public sector, where workers' labor is genuinely respected."

Meanwhile, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions issued a statement Monday urging the government to establish a principle of hiring regular workers for permanent and ongoing duties and to draw up structural measures to reduce the overall number of irregular workers in the public sector.

"The fact that 28 out of 30 local governments were found to have violated labor law shows that the problem of irregular workers in the public sector is not a deviation by a handful of institutions but a structural issue," the federation said. It criticized the 364-day contracts and discriminatory allowances as "not administrative errors, but institutionalized discrimination against workers simply because they are irregular."