National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea
coming years depending on budget availability.
B. Recommendation on Institutional Improvement for the Protection
of Human Rights of Laid-Off People
Layoff is the termination of employment for business reasons, and is
different from job dismissal which is ascribable to the failure of
responsibility of an employee. Layoff is a threat to not only the laid-off
but
also
the
living
of
their
families.
The
NHRCK
issued
recommendations for the protection of human rights of the laid-off. In
detail, the Commission recommended, on January 17, 2013, the Speaker
of the National Assembly and the Minister of Employment and Labor to
reinforce the layoff requirements in the Labor Standards Act, to
strengthen the protection of the right of labor and the stability of
employment, and to fortifying the social safety nets.
In more detail, the recommendations for the Speaker of the National
Assembly and the Ministry of Employment and Labor were: i) specifying
the definition of "urgent business reasons" as stipulated in Article 24,
Paragraph 1 of the Labor Standards Act in order to make the layoff
requirements stricter; ii) legislation of some examples of "employer's
efforts to avoid layoff" as stipulated in Paragraph 2 of the same Article,
such as shortening of working hours, rotational suspension of work,
change of assignments, among others.
In addition, what was recommended to the Minister of Employment and
Labor included: i) presentation of guidelines detailing the positions of
both employer and employees with regard to the selection criteria for
Chapter 1. Improvement of Laws and Regulations, Institution, Policies, and Practices ▪▪▪ 33