View of the Ministry of Justice building. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice is pushing a plan to restrict employers who fail to pay wages or cause industrial accidents from hiring foreign workers. The measure aims to strengthen the protection of foreign workers’ human rights and tighten oversight of workplaces that repeatedly violate labor laws.
The Justice Ministry said Wednesday that it has prepared a partial amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Control Act containing such provisions, with a 40-day legislative notice period.
Under the amendment, employers who receive a fine of 5 million won or more for violating the Labor Standards Act will be barred from inviting foreign workers for three years. In addition, employers named on the list of wage-defaulting employers will be unable to newly hire foreign workers during the period their names are disclosed. Currently, invitation restrictions of three years apply only when an employer receives a sentence of imprisonment or higher, or a suspended sentence.
New restriction provisions will also be established for employers who violate the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. If a worker dies due to a violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers sentenced to imprisonment or higher, a suspended sentence, or a fine of 5 million won or more will be unable to hire foreign workers for three years. Even in cases without a fatality, the same level of punishment will result in a one-year invitation restriction. Employers who violate the Serious Accidents Punishment Act will also be banned from inviting foreign workers for up to three years, depending on the level of criminal punishment.
The amendment is one of the follow-up measures pursued in the wake of an incident in February last year in Naju, South Jeolla Province, in which a foreign worker was tied to a forklift and dragged around.
The Justice Ministry also prepared exception provisions to reduce the side effects of uniform sanctions. It allows the restriction period to be shortened by comprehensively considering the severity of the employer’s legal violation and the likelihood of reoffending.
“By resolving the institutional gap caused by inadequate legislation, we will be able to more robustly protect foreign workers from risks such as assault, habitual wage default, and industrial accidents,” Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said.