Boseong-gun Selected as an Excellent Local Government for Foreign Seasonal Workers

Published 05 Mar.2024 12:26(KST)

Foreign Workers Successfully Settle in Boseong, Making Work Enjoyable

Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 4th that it was selected as an ‘Excellent Local Government for Foreign Seasonal Workers in 2024’ by the Ministry of Justice.

The foreign seasonal worker system is a program that allows legal employment of foreigners for a short period ranging from 3 to a maximum of 8 months to resolve labor shortages in agriculture, where intensive labor is needed during periods such as sowing and harvesting seasons.

[Photo by Boseong-gun]

The excellent local governments for foreign seasonal workers are those with an average turnover rate of less than 5% over the past three years. When selected, an incentive is given allowing employers to hire 2 additional workers, increasing the maximum number of hires from 9 to 11.

In 2023, Boseong-gun introduced 418 workers across 86 farms to support rural labor, and in the first half of this year, through continuous recruitment efforts and demand surveys, 714 workers were assigned to 140 farms, an increase of more than 70% compared to the previous year.

In June last year, Boseong-gun enacted an ordinance regarding support for foreign seasonal workers in response to the growing need for such workers, providing tailored administrative services to farms and foreign seasonal workers, thereby contributing to rural development and revitalization of the local economy.

In particular, Boseong-gun signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Padada City in the Philippines to expand the worker supply system and also signed an MOU with Boseong Asan Hospital for regular employment status checks and drug testing, making every effort to ensure the stable operation of the system.

A representative of Boseong-gun said, “Thanks to the active cooperation and efforts of the farms, the foreign seasonal worker program is being stably established. We will continue to do our best to smoothly implement the system and resolve labor shortages in rural areas.”