This Year, 'Domin Nomoosa' Will Visit Gyeongnam Again!

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 17th that it will continue to operate the ‘Visiting Resident Labor Attorney Program’ this year.

This program has been promoted by Gyeongnam since 2020 to protect the rights and interests of vulnerable workers and small-scale businesses within the province and to prevent violations of their rights.

The province supports consultations and remedies for labor and labor-related difficulties experienced by vulnerable workers or small business owners through resident labor attorneys appointed by the province.

According to the province, from 2020 to the end of 2022, the resident labor attorneys handled a total of 1,090 cases, including 795 labor consultations, 223 labor consulting cases, and 72 labor law education sessions.

With an annual average of about 360 cases, requests for consulting related to support for the 52-hour workweek system have been steadily increasing.

To ensure smooth operation of the program, the province appointed 23 professional labor attorneys with certified labor attorney qualifications as resident labor attorneys across five regions within the province: Changwon, Jinju, Tongyeong, Gimhae, and Yangsan.

When the Gyeongnam Investment & Economic Promotion Agency receives labor cases from vulnerable workers or small businesses, it assigns a resident labor attorney who then provides support in ▲ labor consultations and rights remedies for vulnerable workers ▲ labor consulting for small and medium-sized enterprises ▲ labor rights and labor law education.

‘Labor consultations and rights remedies for vulnerable workers’ aim to support workers in remedying labor rights violations such as wage arrears, unfair dismissal, and industrial accidents, and to ensure protection for vulnerable workers.

Any worker in the province can visit or call the resident labor attorney’s office for consultation.

Support for ‘labor consulting for small and medium-sized enterprises’ is provided by the assigned resident labor attorney visiting the requested business for consulting, divided into two types: small-scale business labor consulting and working hours system consulting.

Small-scale business labor consulting is conducted to prevent violations of workers’ rights by consulting on overall labor management systems such as labor contracts, wages, and welfare issues.

The support targets small-scale businesses with fewer than 50 employees located in the province, small business owners, and related provincial and municipal institutions.

Working hours system consulting supports businesses with 5 to fewer than 300 employees located in the province, as well as related provincial and municipal institutions, by assisting with working hours and wage adjustments.

‘Labor rights and labor law education’ is conducted by visiting individuals, institutions, organizations, and provincial agencies located in the province to provide education on essential labor laws such as the Labor Standards Act, necessary labor rights information, and cases of legal violations to prevent rights infringements due to lack of knowledge of labor laws.

Application forms for program support can be found in the civil service manual section of the electronic civil service menu on the Gyeongsangnam-do official website, and detailed information can be obtained by calling the Gyeongnam Investment & Economic Promotion Agency.

Im Jae-dong, Director of the Labor-Management Cooperation Division, said, “We will do our best to assist workers and small business owners facing difficulties such as unfair dismissal, wage arrears, and employee management, and will make further efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable workers.”

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