Financial Sector and Ministry of Employment Join Hands for Fair Recruitment Voluntary Agreement

Mandatory Written Test or Interview in Recruitment Process
Adjustment of Number of Male and Female Candidates, Prohibition of Gender-Based Evaluation

Minister Lee Jae-gap of the Ministry of Employment and Labor is speaking at the 5th Employment Policy Council meeting of 2019 held on the 19th at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The financial sector and the Ministry of Employment and Labor have joined hands to promote fair hiring, a key issue in our society.

On the afternoon of the 20th, at the Korea Financial Investment Association in Yeouido, Seoul, a comprehensive financial sector fair hiring voluntary agreement ceremony was held to expand fair hiring in the private sector. Attendees included Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor; Kim Tae-young, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks; Kim Yong-duk, Chairman of the General Insurance Association of Korea; Shin Yong-gil, Chairman of the Life Insurance Association of Korea; Kim Joo-hyun, Chairman of the Korea Credit Finance Association; Park Jae-sik, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Savings Banks; and Na Jae-cheol, Chairman of the Korea Financial Investment Association. This is a follow-up measure to the government's 'Fair Hiring in the Public Sector and Expansion to the Private Sector Plan' announced last November.

Previously, in May 2018, the Korea Federation of Banks took the lead as the first in the private sector to establish the 'Model Hiring Procedure for the Banking Sector,' and the other five major associations have since developed and implemented their own model hiring procedures reflecting the characteristics of each industry based on this.

This voluntary agreement aims to further develop these efforts. The six major financial associations have incorporated key elements of the government's 'Establishment of Fair Hiring in the Public Sector and Expansion to the Private Sector Plan' announced on November 8 last year, such as adding provisions to prohibit unreasonable hiring discrimination and excluding interviewers who engage in unfair practices in their respective 'Model Hiring Procedures.' These model procedures will be implemented starting with the public recruitment in the first half of this year.

Kim Tae-young, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, is attending the meeting to review the performance of inclusive finance in the banking sector held at the Korea Federation of Banks building in Seoul on the 22nd. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

Key points include mandating that at least one of the written test or interview stages be conducted during the hiring process, and establishing grounds for introducing structured interview methods such as situational, experiential, discussion, and presentation interviews.

Additionally, it prohibits adjusting the number of hires based on gender when planning recruitment or distinguishing gender during document screening, and strengthens the ban on gender discrimination by requiring interviewers to receive prior education on gender discrimination prevention.

Furthermore, if an interviewer asks for personal information prohibited from being collected or requested under the model procedures, they will be excluded from the hiring process. Also, if a job applicant is found to have engaged in improper acts such as hiring solicitation or has been involved in past hiring-related misconduct, they will be immediately excluded from the hiring process.

Minister Lee stated, “Expanding a culture of fair hiring to the private sector cannot be achieved by the government alone,” and added, “It is highly meaningful that the financial sector has voluntarily prepared improvement measures to spread and establish a culture of fair hiring first.” He continued, “Going forward, the Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to focus efforts on supporting small and medium-sized financial companies facing difficulties in hiring processes,” and expressed hope that “this culture and principles of fair hiring will spread beyond the financial sector to other private sectors.”