Labor law violations in first half of 2026 surpass full-year 2025 tally at 18,331 cases

Labor law violations detected through workplace inspections in the first half of this year reached 18,331 cases, surpassing the total for all of last year. Common violations included failing to provide written employment contracts and withholding wages.

According to data submitted to the National Assembly by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, violations detected through labor inspections from January to June numbered 18,331 — 576 more than the 17,755 cases recorded for all of last year. The data was obtained by Park Hae-cheol, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee.

By violation type, failure to specify and provide written employment conditions — including employment contracts — was the most common, at 3,268 cases. Unpaid wages followed at 2,611 cases, and failure to provide pay stubs came in third at 2,257 cases. By workplace size, businesses with fewer than 30 employees accounted for 9,736 violations, or 53.1 percent of the total.

From 2020 through June of this year, a total of 153,338 violations were detected. Of those, 150,331 cases, or 98.0 percent, resulted in corrective orders. Criminal referrals accounted for 1,453 cases, or 0.9 percent, while fines were imposed in 1,489 cases, or 1.0 percent.

Annual violations rose from 5,319 in 2020 to 21,692 in 2022 and 40,527 in 2023. However, the figures are influenced by the scope and scale of inspections conducted each year, making it difficult to conclude that violations across all workplaces have increased at the same rate.

"Violations directly tied to workers' livelihoods — such as failure to provide employment contracts or unpaid wages — must be met with strict enforcement," Park said. He added that he would use the upcoming national audit to press for stronger fines and criminal action against repeat and deliberate labor law offenders.