Tower Crane Operator Receiving Monthly Bribe Faces License Suspension for Up to 1 Year

Guidelines for Disciplinary Actions on Illegal Activities by Construction Equipment Operators
3-Month License Suspension for First Offense... 1-Year Penalty for Third Offense

From now on, operators who commit illegal or unfair acts such as accepting illicit money, obstructing construction, or engaging in work slowdowns using construction machinery will have their licenses suspended for up to 12 months.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) announced on the 2nd that, as part of the 'Measures to Eradicate Illegal and Unfair Acts at Construction Sites' jointly announced with related ministries, guidelines have been established to enable license suspension actions against construction machinery operators' illegal and unfair acts starting from March.

A tower crane standing at a construction site of an apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul / Photo by Yonhap News

The current 'National Technical Qualifications Act' stipulates that if a construction machinery operator does not perform duties faithfully, damages public dignity or causes harm to others, MOLIT can impose administrative sanctions such as license cancellation or suspension for a certain period.

This time, MOLIT included in the guidelines the grounds for sanctions by type, supporting evidence, cases, sanction levels, and procedures to allow administrative sanctions without a final court ruling. Operators can have their licenses suspended for up to 12 months depending on the number of violations.

The types of illegal and unfair acts subject to license suspension are classified into three categories: ▲ illicit acceptance of monthly fees or other improper money ▲ obstruction of construction such as site occupation using construction machinery ▲ unfair work slowdowns violating the duty of diligence.

Acts of illicit money acceptance are major examples of damage to dignity and cause financial harm to the providers of money; license suspension is imposed based on the absence of labor contracts and deposit/withdrawal records. Obstruction of construction such as site occupation is an unethical act that abuses national technical qualifications for improper purposes and causes financial losses due to construction delays, making it subject to sanctions. Unfair work slowdowns due to suspension of monthly fee payments violate the obligation to perform duties faithfully as a national technical qualification holder and disrupt order at construction sites.

MOLIT emphasized, "Work slowdowns without proper procedures are illegal, and deliberately reducing work efficiency to pressure employers or refusing legitimate work instructions from employers or managers may also constitute a violation of the duty of diligence." It added, "Refusal to work entirely without consulting safety managers or others due to violations of detailed safety rules, when there is no urgent danger, can also be considered a violation of the duty of diligence."

The level of sanctions under the National Technical Qualifications Act is differentiated according to the number of illegal or unfair acts. For the first violation, a 3-month suspension is imposed; for the second, 6 months; and for the third or more violations, 12 months. The sanction procedure follows the order of report reception → verification of sanction conditions and securing supporting documents → fact verification through on-site investigation and obtaining confirmation (with police cooperation if necessary) → holding an administrative sanction review committee → hearing → sanction and notification to related agencies. The review committee consists of 3 to 5 members, including construction machinery experts, labor attorneys, and lawyers.

Additionally, MOLIT has agreed to share the results of national technical qualification sanctions with city, county, and district offices, which are the issuing authorities of construction machinery operator licenses, so that they can impose license suspensions.

The guidelines apply to unfair acts committed by operators after March 1. MOLIT plans to promptly initiate administrative sanction procedures upon receiving reports of unfair acts and swiftly proceed to license suspension. It also intends to quickly promote amendments to the 'Construction Machinery Management Act' to allow license cancellation when construction machinery operators demand illicit money.

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of MOLIT, said, "Unfair acts by tower crane operators increase construction company costs, extend construction periods, and lead to higher sale prices, ultimately causing harm to the public." He added, "With the establishment of these guidelines, we will correct deeply rooted illegal acts and malicious practices involving construction machinery such as tower cranes."

He also urged, "Since recognizing on-site damage is important to initiate administrative sanctions, construction companies should not yield to intimidation and tyranny by labor unions but actively report such acts."

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