Seoul City Village Labor Attorneys Provide Free Labor Consulting for Small Businesses with Fewer Than 30 Employees... Support for Employment Rule Drafting

128 Active Labor Attorneys Visit Workplaces for Close Management Including Labor Management Status Assessment and Improvement Proposals
Providing Essential Labor Law Guide from Employment Contract Preparation to Weekly Holiday Pay and Severance Pay Regulations
Expansion to 200 Village Labor Attorneys by 2024

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 17th that it will carry out the ‘Maeul Labor Attorney’ project, which provides free labor-related consulting and counseling by directly visiting small-scale workplaces. The consulting targets are workplaces in Seoul employing fewer than 30 workers.

The main purpose of the ‘Maeul Labor Attorney’ project is to alleviate labor management difficulties by providing business owners with essential information on labor-related laws and employee management, thereby protecting workers' rights and improving the working environment. This project was first launched by Seoul in 2016 as the first local government initiative, and currently, 128 Maeul Labor Attorneys are active.

The consulting is conducted by the ‘Maeul Labor Attorney’ visiting the workplace at least twice. During the first visit, the matched Maeul Labor Attorney conducts close consultations with the business owner to diagnose labor management status such as wage management for employees, granting working and break times, and holiday operations. They also identify the business owner’s needs regarding points to note when hiring new employees, enrolling in the four major social insurances, and drafting employment contracts.

During the second visit, based on the labor management status and difficulties identified in the first consultation, the attorney provides essential employee management document templates and guidance on how to complete them, as well as customized labor management improvement plans suitable for the workplace. Additionally, for business owners facing difficulties due to COVID-19 and other reasons, detailed information on local government or government support measures is provided.

Support is also provided for drafting ‘Employment Rules’ that formalize workers’ working conditions. Until last year, support was only available for workplaces with 10 or more employees, which are subject to mandatory reporting under the Labor Standards Act, but from this year, support has been expanded to workplaces with fewer than 10 employees upon the business owner’s request.

From this year, in addition to consulting for business owners, education and labor-related counseling for workers will also be conducted. Mandatory legal education such as workplace sexual harassment and bullying prevention training and Labor Standards Act education will be provided to workers at applying workplaces, and counseling related to rights violations and labor laws is also planned.

Business owners wishing to receive free labor consulting from the ‘Maeul Labor Attorney’ can apply by submitting an application form and related documents via email, mail, or fax to the Seoul Labor Rights Center. For more details, inquiries can be made to the Seoul Labor Rights Center.

Jang Young-min, Seoul’s Labor Policy Officer, said, “The Maeul Labor Attorneys, who provide practical help to both business owners and workers in small-scale workplaces, will be expanded and operated with 200 personnel by 2024,” adding, “This year, by expanding the scope of consulting, we will make greater efforts to protect the rights of workers in labor-vulnerable workplaces.”

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