Labour Standards Act [LSA], Act No. 5309 of 17 March 1997, as last amended by Act No. 11270 of 2012
Date:1 Feb 2012;
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Enforcement Decree of the Labour Standards Act [ED-LSA], Presidential Decree No. 15320 of 27 March 1997, as last amended by Decree No. 24652 of 2013
Date:28 Jun 2013;
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Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act [TULRAA], Act No. 5310 of 13 March 1997, as last amended by Act No. 12630 of 2014
Date:20 May 2014;
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Act on the Protection of Fixed term and Part time Employees [FTPTE], Act No. 8074 of 21 December 2006, as amended by Act No. 11273 of 2012
Date:1 Feb 2012;
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Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Protection of Fixed term and Part time Employees [ED-FTPTE], Presidential Decree, No. 20093 of 2007, as last amended by presidential Decree No. 23488 of 2012
Date:6 Jan 2012;
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Equal Employment Act [EEA], Act No. 3989 of 4 December 1987, as last amended by Acts No. 111461 of 2012
Date:1 Jun 2012;
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Labour Relations Commission Act [LRCA], Act No. 5311 of 13 March 1997, as last amended by Act No. 13044 of 2015
Date:20 Jan 2015;
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Act on Age Discrimination Prohibition in Employment and Aged Employment Promotion, Act No. 4487 of 31 December 1991, as last amended by Act No. 10339 of 2010
Date:4 Jun 2010;
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Size of enterprises excluded (≤): 5
Art. 11 LSA:
"Article 11 (Scope of Application)
(1) This Act shall apply to all businesses or workplaces in which five or more workers are ordinarily employed. This Act, however, shall not apply to any business or workplace which employs only relatives living together, and to a worker who is hired for domestic work.
(2) With respect to businesses or workplaces which ordinarily employs fewer than five workers, only part of the provisions of this Act may be made applicable as prescribed by the Presidential Decree.
(3) In the application of this Act, the method of calculating the number of workers ordinarily employed shall be prescribed by the Presidential Decree".
Workers' categories excluded: employer's family members, civil/public servants, domestic workers
Art. 11(1) LSA: The LSA does not apply to domestic workers and to businesses which only employ relatives living together.
Although, not specified in the Act, it does not apply either to public/civil servants whose employment is regulated by specific rules. See the website of the Republic of Korea Civil Service Commission: http://www.csc.go.kr/eng/csS/css03.asp
FTC regulated: Yes
Article 16 (Term of Contract) LSA: "The term of a labor contract shall not exceed one year, except in cases where no term is fixed or a term is fixed as necessary for the completion of a project."
Valid reasons for FTC use: no limitation
Art. 4 FTPTE, and art. 3 ED-PTPTE.
No limitation for the conclusion of 1 or more fixed-term contract provided that the total cumulative duration does not exceed 2 years.
However, as an exception, it is possible to conclude a fixed-term contract for more than 2 years, if there are objective and material reasons. These reasons are:
1) the period needed to complete a project or particular task is defined;
2) there is a need to fill a vacancy in case of a worker's temporary suspension from duty or dispatch until the worker returns to work;
3) the period needed for a worker to complete school work or vocational training is defined; or
4) a job requires professional knowledge and skills or is offered as part of the government's welfare or unemployment measures prescribed by a Presidential Decree
5) these is a rational reason prescribed by Decree.
Maximum number of successive FTCs: no limitation
No limitation within the 2-year-time frame: art. 4 (1) FTPTE
Maximum cumulative duration of successive FTCs: 24month(s)
Art. 4 (1) FTPTE.
Maximum probationary (trial) period (in months): 3 month(s)
Art. 16 ED-LSA (Definition of Probationary Worker): "For the purposes of subparagraph 5 of Article 35 of the Act, the term “probationary worker” means a worker for whom less than three months have passed since the start of his/her probationary period."
Obligation to provide reasons to the employee:
Yes
Article 27 LSA (Written Notification of Reasons for Dismissal): "(1) If an employer intends to dismiss a worker, the employer shall notify the worker of reasons for dismissal and the date of such dismissal in writing. (2) The dismissal of a worker shall take effect only after the written notification is given to the worker pursuant to paragraph (1)."
Art. 23 (1) LSA: "No employer shall dismiss, lay off (..) a worker without justifiable reasons".
Art. 24 (1) LSA (dismissal for managerial reasons).
- Art. 6 LSA: general prohibition of discrimination against workers on the grounds of gender, nationality, religion of social status.
- Art. 23 (2) LSA: Prohibition to dismiss any worker during a period of temporary interruption of work for medical treatment of an occupational injury or disease and within 30 days thereafter, and any female worker on maternity leave.
- On prohibition of discriminatory dismissals on the grounds of sex, marriage, family status, pregnancy or childbirth, see art. 2 and 11 of EEA.
- Art. 81 TULRAA: prohibition of dismissal of or discrimination against a worker on the grounds that the worker has joined or intended to join a trade union, intended to establish a trade union, or performed a lawful act for the operation of a trade union.
- See also on prohibition of age discrimination, including with regards to dismissal, see art. 44 of the Act on age discrimination prohibition in employment and aged employment Promotion , No 4487, 31 December 1991, as amended.
Art. 23 (2) LSA: No employer shall dismiss any worker during a period of temporary interruption of work for medical treatment of an occupational injury or disease and within 30 days thereafter, and any female worker during a period of temporary interruption of work before and after childbirth and within 30 days thereafter. This does not apply in the event of payment of the statutory compensation following an occupational injury or disease or in the event of business closure.
Notification to the worker to be dismissed: written
Art. 27 LSA
Notice period:
Art. 26 LSA: The notice period shall be 30 days regardless of the length of service.
However, exceptionally, notice may not be given to workers who have been employed: 1) on a daily basis for less than three consecutive months; 2) for a fixed period not exceeding two months; 3) as a monthly-paid worker for less than six months; 4) for seasonal work for a fixed period not exceeding six months; 5) as a worker in a probationary period (art. 35 LSA).
tenure ≥ 6 months:
tenure ≥ 9 months:
tenure ≥ 2 years:
tenure ≥ 4 years:
tenure ≥ 5 years:
tenure ≥ 10 years:
tenure ≥ 20 years:
Pay in lieu of notice: Yes
Art. 26 LSA
Notification to the public administration: No
Notification to workers' representatives: No
Except in case of dismissal for managerial reasons: art. 24 LSA.
Approval by public administration or judicial bodies: No
Approval by workers' representatives: No
Definition of collective dismissal (number of employees concerned):
1) More than 10 employees in businesses or workplaces with up to 99 employees;
2) more than 10% in businesses or workplaces with 100 to 999 employees;
3) more than 100 employees in businesses or workplaces with at least 1000 employees.
Art. 10 ED-LSA
Prior consultations with trade unions (workers' representatives): Yes
Art. 24 (3) LSA:
Consultation with the workers' representatives shall take place prior to any dismissal for managerial reasons regardless of the number of employees concerned.
Notification to the public administration: Yes
At least 30 days in advance: art. 10 ED-LSA and 24 (4) LSA.
Notification to workers' representatives: Yes
Art. 24 (3) LSA: 50 days in advance.
Notification to the workers' representatives shall take place prior to any dismissal for managerial reasons regardless of the number of employees concerned.
Approval by public administration or judicial bodies: No
Approval by workers' representatives: No
Priority rules for collective dismissals (social considerations, age, job tenure): No
No statutory selection criteria for collective dismissals. However, art. 24 (2) LSA provides that the employer shall select workers to be dismissed by establishing rational and fair criteria and that there shall be no discrimination on the basis of gender.
Employer's obligation to consider alternatives to dismissal (transfers, retraining...): Yes
Art. 24 (1) LSA: Obligation to make every effort to avoid dismissal.
Priority rules for re-employment: Yes
Art. 25 (1) LSA: preference for re-employment for 3 years from the date of the lay-off.
tenure ≥ 6 months: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 9 months: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 1 year: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 4 years: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 5 years: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 10 years: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 20 years: 0 month(s)
Redundancy payment:
tenure ≥ 6 months: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 9 months: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 1 year: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 2 years: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 4 years: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 5 years: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 10 years: 0 month(s)
tenure ≥ 20 years: 0 month(s)
No statutory severance pay as such or redundancy payment.
Compensation for unfair dismissal - free determination by court: Yes
Art. 28 LSA
Art. 82 Trade Union and Labor Relation Adjustment Act (TULRAA)
Compensation for unfair dismissal - Legal limits (ceiling in months or calculation method): Damages in lieu of reinstatement should not be less than the salary the worker would have earned if he had not been dismissed.
Art. 30 (3) LSA
Reinstatement available: Yes
Art. 30 (1) LSA
Preliminary mandatory conciliation: No
Preliminary conciliation is not mandatory. However, pursuant to art. 16-3 (1) of the Labor Commission Relations Act, the Labor Relations Commission may recommend conciliation or present a conciliation proposal at the request of one of the parties concerned or on its own initiative.
Competent court(s) / tribunal(s): labour court
The competent body to hear and adjudicate rights and interests disputes arising out of the employment relationship, including unfair dismissals is the Labor Relations Commission. It is a quasi-judicial governmental body which is affiliated to the Ministry of Labor and composed of tripartite representatives: workers, employers and public interests.
See art. 28 LSA, 82 TULRAA, and the Labor Relations Commission Act of 1997, as last amended in May 2007.
Existing arbitration: Yes
No arbitration or mediation foreseen for disputes related to the LSA, which is the main piece of legislation on dismissal.
However, arbitration and mediation are only foreseen for disputes related to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (discrimination on the grounds of trade union activities): art. 47 to 70 of the TULRAA. In such cases, arbitration and mediation can be conducted by the Labour Relations Commission or by private persons.