Seonghwa Lim, Gwangju Seo-gu Council Member, Enacts Ordinance to Protect Youth Labor Rights

Since COVID-19, the number of adolescent workers has steadily increased, but cases of labor rights violations such as sexual harassment have also risen accordingly. There is an urgent need to establish related countermeasures.

Meanwhile, Im Seonghwa, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Seo-gu Council, has attracted attention by enacting the 'Ordinance on the Protection and Promotion of Youth.'

On the 19th, Councilor Im stated, “According to a 2022 survey published by the Korea Youth Policy Institute, the proportion of part-time employed youth in our country is increasing at a very rapid pace (15 years: 23.9% → 20 years: 36.6%), ranking fifth among major OECD countries,” and added, “The trend of part-time job experience increased from 5.3% in 2020 to 6.7% in 2022, while the rate of unfair experiences during part-time jobs also rose, making preparation for this urgent.”

He also said, “According to the 2023 Youth Labor Status Survey released by the Gwangju Youth Labor Rights Center, the rate of youth labor experience is decreasing to 3.9% (from 6.8% in 2020), but 40.9% of workplaces are businesses with fewer than five employees where the Labor Standards Act does not apply. Furthermore, cases of ▲unfair treatment and ▲human rights violations have significantly increased from 49.8% in 2020 to 64% in 2023.”

Additionally, Councilor Im stated, “The main contents of the Youth Labor Rights Ordinance include ▲youth rights, ▲youth protection, ▲labor rights projects (education, promotion, counseling, and support for damage reporting), ▲formation of public-private consultative bodies, and ▲youth labor rights guardians, thereby stipulating support for the protection of youth rights.”

Furthermore, Councilor Im emphasized, “Youth are the precious tomorrow and the very today responsible for the future of our society,” and added, “It is our duty to ensure they can grow up in a safe and healthy environment.”

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dongho bless4ya@asiae.co.kr

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