"If It Is Revealed as Unfair Dismissal, Not Mutual Resignation, Foreign Workers Will Be Protected"

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Administrative Appeals Committee Requests the Employment and Labor Office to Devise Remedial Measures

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] An administrative judgment has been made that even if a labor contract is terminated by mutual agreement between the parties and a lawful employment change report is filed, if it is later found to be an unfair dismissal, the Employment and Labor Office must actively provide relief to the worker.

The Central Administrative Appeals Commission of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on the 30th that it decided to cancel the reply to a complaint rejecting a foreign worker's request to cancel the employment change report on the grounds of unfair dismissal.

Mr. A, a foreign worker of Indonesian nationality, entered Korea as an industrial trainee and worked at Company B. He became pregnant, which led to a dispute with the company, and he had to leave before the end of the labor contract period. Company B concealed this fact and reported to the local Employment and Labor Office that the labor contract was terminated by agreement with Mr. A.

Later, when Mr. A applied to the local Labor Relations Commission for relief from unfair dismissal, Company B admitted partial unfair dismissal during the commission’s reconciliation process and decided to reinstate Mr. A. Company B tried to cancel the previously reported employment change report to reinstate Mr. A, but the office rejected it, stating, "If the report was lawfully filed, it cannot be arbitrarily canceled even if an unfair dismissal ruling is made."

Mr. A filed a complaint claiming that the office’s refusal to cancel the application was unfair, but the office responded that even if the content is from the reconciliation document notified by the Labor Relations Commission, it does not necessarily mean that the employment change cancellation or reinstatement must be processed. Eventually, Mr. A filed an administrative appeal with the Administrative Appeals Commission, arguing that the office’s refusal to cancel the employment change report was illegal.

The Administrative Appeals Commission did not consider the office’s reply to the complaint illegal because the office has no legal obligation to retroactively withdraw or change the previously processed employment change report. However, it focused on the fact that the part reported as "termination of the labor contract by mutual agreement" was a false report against Mr. A’s actual intention, and that the company admitted partial unfair dismissal. Accordingly, the commission decided that the office’s reply to the complaint could cause Mr. A to lose rights such as applying for a workplace change, and ordered the office to reply again so that relief for Mr. A would be possible.

Min Seongsim, Director of the Administrative Appeals Bureau of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, said, "Even if a matter is processed through lawful procedures, if unfairness is later discovered in the content, public institutions need to actively strive to correct it."