The National Assembly of Korea recently passed some major legislative amendments to multiple labour statutes, embarking on one of the most extensive labour and employment law reforms the country has seen in recent years.

They can be summurised as follows:

• Minimum wage set at KRW 9,160/hour for 2022: On 19 July 2021 the government announced the 2022 minimum wage as KRW 9,160 (approx. US$ 7.92) per hour. This is a KRW440 increase (roughly 5%) from the 2021 minimum wage of KRW 8,720 per hour. Such high increase resulted in adverse impacts on employment in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and service sector, where many minimum wage workers engage in, and jobs for temporary and daily workers. Therefore, businesses asked the government for different application of minimum wage regulations based on industry, region and corporate size.
• 52-hour workweek: In 2018, the South Korean Labour Standards Act (LSA) was amended to restrict an employee's maximum work hours from 68 hours to 52 hours per week. The amendment provides different dates on which the rule becomes applicable to businesses, depending on the number of their employees. From 1 July 2021, employers with fewer than 50 employees are finally required to adhere to the 52-hour workweek. Notwithstanding, in recognition of the potential difficulties faced by small business owners who might need employees to work longer hours or cannot afford additional hires, Article 53-3 of the Labour Standards Act (LSA) allows employers with fewer than 30 employees to require eight overtime hours per week additionally (based on an agreement with the employee representative) until 31 December 2022 (the “Extension”). The Extension is temporary, and therefore, all employers in Korea must begin to finalise any last adjustments to their workforce to comply with the 52-hour workweek.
• New penalties for failure to adequately handle workplace harassment: From 14 October 2021, employers’ obligations contained in the Labour Standard Act to promptly investigate reports of (non-sexual) workplace harassment and take appropriate measures will be expanded and new penalties introduced. Employers should evaluate whether they have the right policies and processes in place to both prevent workplace harassment, and objectively and promptly investigate any instances that occur and take appropriate action.
• New claim procedure and remedies for gender-discrimination and sexual-harassment claims: Effective since 19 May 2022, for the first-time employees will be able to petition the Labour Relations Commission for relief in gender-discrimination and sexual-harassment cases, and the available remedies will include damages.
• Greater protections for employees against wrongful disciplinary actions:Effective from 19 November2021, the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) may award compensation if reinstatement is not possible in the event of a layoff or job reassignment. In addition, the penalties applicable to employers who refuse to comply with an LRC decision have been increased.
• Use of childcare leave during pregnancy: From 19 November 2021, pregnant female employees who are at medical risk of miscarriage/stillbirth will be allowed to use a portion of the one year of child care leave - already provided for parents with a child age 8 or younger, or in the second grade of elementary school or below -, while still pregnant. The total period of child care leave for each eligible child, including any child care leave used during pregnancy, will still be one year. The use of child care leave during pregnancy is in addition to the statutory maternity leave.
• Right to request working-hours adjustment during pregnancy: From 19 November 2021, the Labour Standards Act will provide pregnant female employees, at any point in their pregnancy, the right to change their start and end times. The employer may only refuse the request for certain reasons prescribed by regulation, such as where the changed hours would seriously interfere with the normal operation of the business.

At this regard, the Korea Employers Federation (KEF) noted that there are many measures already in place to protect pregnant workers. The Korean government is providing subsidies to companies which introduced flexible work arrangements, such as flexible work hours, selective work hours, telework, or work-from-home schemes. For these reasons, “it would be more desirable that women autonomously decide their working conditions, rather than add more legislations that, especially in the workplaces where hire a large number of female workers and SMEs, are more burden in terms of workforce management”.