Nine Major Securities Firms 'Non-Employment of Disabled Persons'... Paid 25.1 Billion Won in Penalties Over 5 Years

by Choi Seungwoo

Published 02 Oct.2023 17:33(KST)

Updated 02 Oct.2023 17:57(KST)

"More Efforts Needed to Share Information on Educational Institutions and Jobs"

It has been revealed that nine major securities firms have paid a total of 25.1 billion KRW in penalties over five years for not employing enough disabled persons. On average, each company paid 2.8 billion KRW.

According to data submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service to Yoon Chang-hyun, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the People Power Party, the total penalties paid by nine major securities firms (KB Securities, NH Investment & Securities, Meritz Securities, Mirae Asset Securities, Samsung Securities, Shinhan Investment Corp., Kiwoom Securities, Hana Securities, and Korea Investment & Securities) from 2018 to the end of June this year amounted to 25.1 billion KRW. According to the Act on the Promotion of Employment of Disabled Persons, companies are required to allocate 3.1% of their total workforce to disabled employees. Companies that fail to meet this quota must pay employment penalties proportional to the shortfall in disabled employment.

Nine Major Securities Firms 'Non-Employment of Disabled Persons'... Paid 25.1 Billion Won in Penalties Over 5 Years

The company that paid the highest penalty was Korea Investment & Securities (4.78 billion KRW), followed by Hana Securities (4.75 billion KRW), Mirae Asset Securities (3.36 billion KRW), NH Investment & Securities (3 billion KRW), KB Securities (3.1 billion KRW), Shinhan Investment Corp. (2.41 billion KRW), Kiwoom Securities (1.51 billion KRW), Meritz (1.38 billion KRW), and Samsung Securities (530 million KRW).

As of June this year, the average employment rate of disabled persons among securities firms stood at 1.83%. The securities firms that do not meet the mandatory employment rate argue that there is a lack of suitable jobs for disabled persons or a shortage of qualified disabled candidates for recruitment.

Regarding this, Assemblyman Yoon pointed out, “There are many tasks in securities firms, such as data analysis and statistical processing, that disabled persons can sufficiently perform.” He also emphasized, “Efforts should be made to share vocational information with specialized educational institutions and allow disabled persons enough time to prepare for employment.”