Ahead of Chuseok, Intensive Inspection of 'Wage Arrears'... Arrest and Investigation of Malicious Employers

Ministry of Employment Launches 'Focused Guidance Period for Wage Arrears Prevention and Settlement'
High-Amount and Collective Wage Arrears to Be Directly Supervised by Agency Heads
Malicious Wage Arrears Employers Subject to Arrest and Strict Action

Wage Arrears (Photo by Getty Images)

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 21st that it will operate a 'Wage Arrears Prevention and Clearance Intensive Guidance Period' for three weeks starting from the 22nd, so that workers can spend the Chuseok holiday without worrying about wage arrears.

The Ministry judged that concerns about wage arrears for vulnerable workers are high this year due to the impact of COVID-19 and interest rate hikes, and plans to carry out field-centered intensive guidance to prevent wage arrears.

To this end, from the 29th of this month to the 8th of next month, labor inspectors will enter emergency duty, and a 'Wage Arrears Clearance Task Force' will also be activated.

The intensive guidance for wage arrears prevention will be conducted meticulously by subdividing the field by industry and group, such as shipbuilding, construction, youth, disabled, and foreign workers.

For two weeks before Chuseok, 'On-site Prevention Inspection Days' will be operated to guide small-scale and micro businesses to comply with the four basic labor orders and to grasp the status of wage arrears.

Workplaces employing many vulnerable groups such as youth, disabled, foreign workers, women, and North Korean defectors, as well as shipbuilding subcontractor-dense areas and construction sites where wage arrears persist, will be guided on wage arrears prevention through meetings chaired by agency heads or on-site visits.

In addition, a full-scale response system will be activated to clear already occurred wage arrears. From this Chuseok, simple wage arrears cases will be handled by designated dedicated inspectors, and if violations such as wage arrears are suspected, investigations will be conducted ex officio even without a report.

Malicious employers who conceal assets or embezzle funds will be strictly dealt with, including arrest and investigation.

For sites where large-scale or collective wage arrears (over 100 million KRW or more than 30 affected workers) occur, agency heads will directly provide guidance, and the Wage Arrears Clearance Task Force, led by section chiefs at local offices, will immediately dispatch to support rapid clearance of wage arrears.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will also implement livelihood stabilization support measures for workers affected by wage arrears.

To enable affected workers to receive advance payments before Chuseok, the processing period for advance payments will be temporarily shortened from 14 days to 7 days until the 8th of next month.

The interest rate on livelihood loans for workers with wage arrears will be reduced by 0.5 percentage points until October 12 to support affected workers. For employers who cannot pay wages due to temporary business difficulties, the interest rate on wage arrears clearance support loans will also be lowered by 1.0 percentage point during the same period.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik emphasized, "The core of this measure is to thoroughly monitor the field without blind spots by group, and to greatly emphasize the role of agency heads in this process," adding, "I have instructed the heads of 48 local employment and labor offices nationwide to devote themselves to wage arrears prevention and clearance activities."

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