Rights agency to recommend action plan to protect workers

By Kim Se-jeong

The National Human Rights Commission said on Monday that it will recommend that the government set up rules to improve business management systems to better protect workers’ human rights at workplaces.

The commission said it is working to make a draft of a national action plan that will be in compliance with the United Nations guidance on the issue. The move follows mounting pressure from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to address the issue after the government rejected similar recommendations in 2012.

“The national action plan is being drafted to take care of an urgent need to address human rights violations at the work place,” according an official at the commission

The urgent issues include unfair labor conditions, discrimination in employment and labor, a ban on forming a labor union, lack of safety regulations at the workplace and inhumane treatment of employees.

The action plan will recommend the government stage awareness campaigns about rights issue among employees, take rights issues into consideration when selecting projects, and allow workers to make and take surveys so they can better understand these issues.

For businesses hiring migrant workers, it will recommend that companies should pay them on time and stop discrimination based on gender and race. It will also recommend that the government allow foreign employees of Korean firms at overseas branches to file suit in Korea against the companies for human rights violations.

The first draft of the action plan will be released during a seminar on Friday, which will be followed by a series of reviews before being officially recommended to the government next year.

If adopted, the recommendations will serve as a foundation for new legislation or revisions that would promote the rights of workers in the nation and compensate those whose rights are violated.

The Korean government refused a similar recommendation in 2011, citing the possibility that Korean companies could lose competitiveness. “For the new draft as well, businesses are reluctant to participate in discussions about the issue," the official said