"Guarantee the Right to Change Workplaces for Migrant Workers"… Testimony Conference on Employment Permit System Victims

On the afternoon of the 18th, at the 'Forced Labor Testimony Conference for Migrant Workers under the Employment Permit System' held at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in Jung-gu, Seoul, a participant is giving related testimony. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The 'Constitutional Petition Group for the Employment Permit System' held a 'Testimony Meeting on Forced Labor Victims among Migrant Workers under the Employment Permit System' on the afternoon of the 18th at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The Employment Permit System is a system that allows foreign workers to change workplaces up to three times during their three-year employment period in Korea. Even if they apply for a workplace change, workers must register as job seekers within one month and find a new job within three months after registration; if the set period passes, they become unregistered.

Jung Jin-ah, a lawyer representing the constitutional petition group for the Employment Permit System, emphasized, "The current Foreign Workers Employment Act infringes on human dignity and value, the right to pursue happiness, and bodily freedom guaranteed by the Constitution," adding, "Restrictions on workplace changes must be abolished."

According to cases collected by related organizations such as the Migrant Center Donghaeng, migrant workers under the Employment Permit System were unable to leave their workplaces even when performing labor not specified in their contracts, experiencing wage arrears, verbal abuse, or physical assault, if the employer did not allow a workplace change.

Some employers demanded hundreds of thousands of won as a bribe to permit workplace changes, and there were cases where requests for workplace transfers by migrant workers suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the death of a fellow worker due to an industrial accident at the workplace were ignored for months.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.