Mandatory Labor Inspections for Call Centers, Dating Agencies, and Broadcasting Production Essential Workers Starting February

Ministry of Employment and Labor Announces '2021 Comprehensive Labor Inspection Plan'
Special Inspections for Workplaces with Issues of Assault, Verbal Abuse, Harassment, and Sexual Harassment
'On-site Inspections After Voluntary Improvement'... Guidance Provided One Month Before Inspection

On December 11 last year, call center workers and members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held a press conference to announce the 'Call No Day' campaign for the protection of call center workers' rights at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Labor inspections on essential workers in call centers, dating agencies, and broadcasting production sites will be fully implemented starting next month. Workplaces that have caused social controversies such as assault will be subject to special inspections without exception.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the '2021 Comprehensive Labor Inspection Plan' with these details on the 24th. This plan sets the basic direction and content of labor inspections nationwide for the year and will be implemented through local labor offices across the country starting next month.

Inspections will focus only on necessary areas, and results from occasional and special inspections will be actively communicated through press briefings and explanatory meetings. This year’s labor inspections will be divided into regular inspections, occasional inspections, and special inspections.

Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor

The principle of 'self-improvement followed by on-site inspection' will be applied in regular inspections. One month before the on-site inspection, workplaces three times the number of inspection targets will be guided to improve voluntarily. If laws are still violated, corrective measures will be enforced.

Priority will be given to protecting vulnerable groups such as essential workers, non-regular workers, foreigners, and public sector service workers. The focus will be on preventing violations rather than punishment.

To improve the working environment for foreign workers, comprehensive preventive inspections will be conducted on workplaces employing a large number of foreigners in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Regular inspections will focus on workplaces with 300 or more employees to prevent long working hours.

This year’s occasional inspections will focus on minimizing blind spots in labor laws and eradicating habitual wage arrears. They will be conducted mainly in industries where working conditions have worsened due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Call centers, dating agencies, and broadcasting production sites are prioritized for occasional inspections. These sectors have raised concerns about poor working conditions, such as not providing rest breaks to essential workers.

Inspections will also be conducted on workplaces suspected of repeated or habitual wage arrears. Workplaces that have delayed wages three or more times within the past year and where violations such as asset concealment are intentional or the amount of arrears exceeds 100 million KRW will be inspected.

Special inspections will be conducted without exception on workplaces that have seriously violated laws causing social controversies, such as worker assault, habitual verbal abuse, workplace harassment, and sexual harassment.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap emphasized, "This year’s labor market is in a special situation where workers and small and medium-sized business owners are all facing difficulties due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. We intend to increase guidance and opportunities for voluntary improvement in labor management for small and medium-sized enterprises while strengthening labor inspections for vulnerable workers."

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