"Punishment for Unfair Labor Practices Excessive Compared to Overseas... Weakening Corporate Competitiveness"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] It has been argued that Korea’s punishment for unfair labor practices is excessive compared to major advanced countries, leading to the proliferation of business owners with criminal records and the weakening of corporate competitiveness, making urgent institutional reform necessary.

This point was raised at the 1st online public seminar held by the Korea Industrial Alliance Forum (KIAF) on the 29th under the theme “Problems and Improvement Measures of the Unfair Labor Practices Punishment System.” Unfair labor practices refer to acts by employers that interfere with the three labor rights (right to organize, right to collective bargaining, right to collective action) protected under the Labor Union Act. In his opening remarks, KIAF Chairman Man-ki Jeong emphasized, “Korea is the only country that criminally punishes the act itself of unfair labor practices,” adding, “Our business owners must now work together with labor to operate under equal conditions with foreign countries.”

At the seminar, it was pointed out that excessive punishment for unfair labor practices is turning business owners into criminals. Woong-jae Lee, a KIAF researcher, stated, “Among countries that explicitly legislate unfair labor practices, the U.S. and Japan focus on restoring labor-management relations rather than punishing the perpetrators, but our system is centered on punishing the perpetrators,” and added, “This is causing various side effects, such as business owners being reduced to criminals.”

Japan and the U.S., which explicitly legislate unfair labor practices, have provisions for fines, but cannot impose imprisonment solely for the act of unfair labor practices unless there is a violation of court rulings or corrective orders. In particular, Japan imposes fines and imprisonment only when court corrective orders are violated. However, under Korea’s Labor Union Act, business owners who commit unfair labor practices can be sentenced to up to two years in prison or fined up to 20 million won.

Academics participating as speakers at the seminar argued that the Labor Union Act, which stipulates strong punishments, should be amended to maintain a cooperative and autonomous relationship between labor and management. Professor Geun-woo Lee of Gachon University said, “Labor-management relations have a different nature from simple civil labor relations, but fundamentally, ‘autonomous resolution between the parties’ should be the top priority,” and pointed out, “Excessive intervention by state agencies in matters that could be amicably resolved autonomously by the parties may cause problems and conflicts by forcing both parties to rely on judicial procedures such as criminal charges and lawsuits or political assistance.”

KIAF also stated, “The ultimate goal of the unfair labor practices system should be the restoration of labor-management relations, not the punishment of perpetrators,” and argued that Article 90 of the Labor Union Act, which stipulates punishment for unfair labor practices, should be abolished, and that Article 89, which regulates the level of punishment for violation of corrective orders, should be changed to a fine. Based on the claims raised at the seminar, KIAF decided to recommend amendments to the Labor Union Act to the National Assembly and the government.

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