Focused Clearance of Wage Arrears for Chuseok... Labor Inspections at 5,000 Workplaces Nationwide

Ahead of the Chuseok holiday, all labor inspectors nationwide will visit 5,000 workplaces to conduct labor inspections aimed at improving wage arrears. In cases where wage arrears are significant, agency heads will directly order settlement activities on-site, and large-scale guidance is expected to take place.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 22nd that it will implement the "Wage Arrears Intensive Settlement Operation Plan," conducting labor inspections at 5,000 workplaces nationwide from the 26th of this month until the 13th of next month.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has conducted labor inspections every year during the Chuseok holiday. This year, departing from the previous practice focused on complaint handling, it will focus on proactive prevention and settlement of wage arrears.

[Photo by Ministry of Employment and Labor]

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To this end, all 2,200 labor inspectors nationwide will inspect 5,000 workplaces. The inspections will target vulnerable industries such as construction, food and accommodation, and information and communication industries (including IT), where wage arrears have significantly increased.

To facilitate easy reporting of damages, an online labor portal and dedicated phone lines will be established as exclusive reporting channels. For the dedicated phone lines, labor inspectors specializing in wage arrears will be directly connected.

During the labor inspection process, if there are large amounts of wage arrears, many affected workers, or disputes arising from arrears, agency heads will visit the site to directly guide the settlement.

In cases where arrears occur due to business difficulties, support will be provided for voluntary settlement by the employer using loan systems for employers with wage arrears. When requesting advance payment, the processing period will be reduced from 14 days to 7 days.

Each office (branch office) will operate a "Wage Arrears Settlement Task Force" to conduct large-scale wage arrears settlement activities on-site. The Ministry of Employment and Labor’s Seoul Gangnam Branch and Seoul Southern Branch will establish separate dedicated teams to prevent wage arrears related to Qoo10 Group affiliates such as TMON and WEMAKEPRICE and to strive to protect the rights of affected workers.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik said, "It is a regrettable reality of our society that workers suffer from wage arrears during the holidays," and instructed, "From the heads of offices (branch offices), make efforts to resolve wage arrears damages with a field-centered approach."

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