By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) is seeking to extend the two-year duration of temporary employment to four years, saying it would help prevent massive layoffs this year.
But the largest opposition Democratic Party (DP) contends that the measure would only pave the way for unstable jobs to dominate the labor market, insisting that the current law remains intact.
Rep. Yim Tae-hee, chief policymaker at the GNP, sat down with union leaders Thursday in a bid to persuade them on a need to revise the current law to improve the job safety of temporary workers.
Under the current law, business owners can hire non-standard workers for up to two years. If the two-year duration ends, employers then make a decision ― hire them as permanent workers or let them go.
Labor experts say approximately one million temporary workers will be asked either to switch their contracts to permanent ones or to leave the workplace.
Rules aimed at protecting an estimated five million temporary workers were introduced during the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Given the economic downturn featuring poor corporate performances and high unemployment, economists predict massive layoffs among temporary workers are unavoidable this year.
Opinion surveys conducted last year by the Ministry of Labor spoke of a grim reality facing unstable job holders: the rate of employers who were willing to transfer their employees' temporary work status to full-time is sharply declining.
A survey conducted last May found 64.5 percent of business owners answered that they would switch the temporary workers to full-time once the legal duration ends.
The figure in the October survey, however, went down to 22.4 percent, indicating that an increasing number of employers plan to let them go.
``To prevent massive layoffs this year, we need to extend the duration of temporary employment by revising the current law. It is a kind of quick fix, but it will still help reduce unemployment,'' GNP Chief Policymaker Yim said.
In addition to the extension of the contract duration, GNP officials are considering offering incentives such as corporate tax cuts to employers who hire more full-time workers.
Opposition parties, though, rejected the GNP plan, arguing it would only result a lot of unstable jobs.
They said employers will be allowed to hire temporary workers for a longer period under the proposed scheme, and therefore it would pose a threat to the creation of secure jobs.
DP spokeswoman Kim Yoo-jung called the measure a bad bill that only favors employers. ``The revision, if adopted, would bring a very undesirable consequence,'' she said.
She denounced the GNP for not discussing the crucial matter with labor unions, a key stakeholder.
The minor opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP) said that it would take any measures if that's what it takes to prevent the legislation in the National Assembly.
Liberty Forward Party spokeswoman Park Sun-young said the extension of the duration of temporary work contracts will not help resolve the problem.
Park called on the GNP and the government to map out measures that can help resolve the problem fundamentally.