Neglecting Employment of Disabled Persons... List of 459 Large Corporations and Public Institutions Disclosed

446 Private Companies with Low Efforts in Employing Disabled Persons... 7 More than Last Year
86 Companies Publicly Listed for 10 Years... Many Have Not Hired a Single Person

Asia Economy DB=Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] On the 17th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the list of a total of 459 private companies and public institutions that have not made efforts to employ persons with disabilities.

The list disclosure applies to public institutions with 50 or more regular employees whose employment rate of persons with disabilities is below 2.72%, and private companies with 300 or more regular employees whose employment rate of persons with disabilities is below 1.55%.

This year, 446 private companies were listed, an increase of 7 from last year. Large-scale companies or conglomerates that should lead in employing persons with disabilities were still largely included in the list.

Among the listed entities, companies with 1,000 or more employees increased by 4 from the previous year to 86. There were 162 companies with 500 to 999 employees and 198 companies with 300 to 499 employees.

Companies belonging to conglomerates with total assets of 10 trillion won or more numbered 29 across 15 groups, an increase of 3 from last year.

Among them, 15 companies have been listed for three consecutive years. These include ▲ LG’s Palm Hannong ▲ GS’s GS Entec, Jai Energy Co., Ltd. ▲ Hanjin’s Jin Air, Korean Air, Hanjin Information & Communications ▲ Kumho Asiana’s Asiana IDT ▲ Mirae Asset’s Mirae Asset Life Insurance, Mirae Asset Consulting ▲ Kyobo Life Insurance’s Kyobo Securities ▲ Kolon’s Kolon Life Science, Kolon Global, Kolon Benit, Kolon Industries ▲ HDC’s HDC I Controls, etc.

Among private companies, 86 have been listed for 10 consecutive years. Among them, Jin Air, Kyobo Securities, Kolon Global, and HDC I Controls, subsidiaries of conglomerates, have been included in the list for 10 consecutive years.

Companies that have not hired a single person with a disability include ▲ ELC A Korea, Elco Ink Korea Branch (with 1,000 or more regular employees) ▲ Prada Korea, Global Humans, Descente Korea, Korea Economic Daily, Youngjeon Engineering (with 500 to 999 regular employees).

Companies with 300 to 499 employees that have not hired any persons with disabilities include 30 companies such as Valentine, SM Entertainment, Korea Shipping, Ferragamo Korea, Philips Electronics, Samduck Accounting Corporation, and Dongjin Construction.

Thirteen public institutions were listed, a decrease of 7 from the previous year. Among them, the Defense Technology Quality Institute and the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute have been listed for six consecutive years, receiving criticism for neglecting the employment of persons with disabilities.

Last year, the Defense Technology Quality Institute’s employment rate of persons with disabilities was 1.03%, and it paid an employment levy of 320 million won. The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute’s employment rate was 1.11%, and it paid a levy of 170 million won.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, as of December last year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor conducted a prior notice in May targeting institutions and companies with significantly low employment rates of persons with disabilities.

Among those subject to prior notice, those that did not make minimal efforts such as new hiring or recruitment for persons with disabilities by last month became subject to list disclosure.

However, business difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic were taken into consideration. Entities located in special disaster areas or special employment support industries, or those receiving employment retention subsidies and whose employment of persons with disabilities did not decrease, were temporarily excluded from the list disclosure if they met the basic completion conditions.

Song Hong-seok, Director of the Integrated Employment Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, expressed regret, saying, "Although the system is operated so that entities making minimal efforts to employ persons with disabilities are not disclosed, the fact that the list was published means there is a lack of will and social responsibility regarding the employment of persons with disabilities."

He added, "In a situation where new hiring by companies is decreasing due to COVID-19, a leading role by the public sector and large-scale companies is necessary to protect jobs for vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities. We will expand support for institutions and companies with excellent employment of persons with disabilities and strengthen sanctions for those with low employment rates."

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