National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2015
emergency sites.
The Commission conducted a survey on 500 domestic workers without employment benefits,
including housemaids, babysitters and care workers. It turned out that more than 70% of the
respondents were depending on non-profit or for-profit employment agencies to get a job,
suggesting that their jobs were actually part of the available professions in the labor market.
However, we found these workers marginalized from typical social benefits and minimum
labor conditions, as they were specified as ‘out of scope’ targets for general labor and social
security laws including the Labor Standards Act, Minimum Wages Act, Industrial Accident
Compensation Insurance Act, and Employment Insurance Act.
Based on the survey results, the research team at the Commission proposed measures for
improvements, which include:
1. abolishing the “exclusion from application” provision in labor laws, including the Labor
Standards Act;
2. including these workers in the scope of social insurance programs; and
3. fostering agencies to provide counseling and job-matching services for foreign domestic
workers.
C. Survey on the overall research situation of graduate students
As of 2014, there were nearly 330,000 graduate students, many of whom reportedly
fell victim to unfair actions by their professors. In response to continued complaints, the
Commission launched a survey from March to September on 1,906 graduate students in 1,209
graduate schools across the nation to take an in-depth analysis on the overall research situation
of graduate students. This includes: (1) their economic situations, (2) institutional and real-life
support, (3) environment for learning and joint research projects, and (4) cases of infringement
on personal rights by their professors or seniors.
As a result, the survey found that many graduate students were suffering from:
1. infringement on their right to study and their own research, as well as economic burden
from tuitions mainly due to excessive administrative workloads;
Part II Major Activities of NHRCK | 43
Major Activities of NHRCK
B. Survey on the human rights situation of domestic workers without
employment benefits
Part II
7. institutionalize cooperation from related organizations when fire officers are on duty at