Ministry of Employment to Implement Revised 'Labor Inspector Work Regulations' on the 25th
On the 21st, a security guard was seen sorting recyclables at an apartment in Seoul./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The rest facilities and working conditions for apartment security guards and facility technicians will be specified by law. Regulations have been refined to ensure the installation of heating and cooling facilities and guarantee an average of more than four days off per month.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 24th that starting from the 25th, it will issue and implement a revised version of the "Labor Inspector Work Regulations," which reorganizes the standards for rest facilities and working conditions for surveillance and solitary workers. The "Guidelines for Approval Judgment of Surveillance and Solitary Workers among Apartment Security Guards" will also be circulated to local labor offices.
The core is to concretize the standards for rest facilities and working conditions to guarantee the right to rest for security guards. These workers can be exempted from the application of working hours, breaks, and holiday regulations with the approval of the Minister of Employment and Labor, but the intention is to provide clearer guidelines on-site to protect their rights. Until now, security guards and others have been approved as surveillance and solitary workers as long as conditions such as agreements among stakeholders and 24 hours off the next day were guaranteed.
It guarantees the provision of heating and cooling facilities, blocking of harmful substances and noise, and sufficient space and items during nighttime breaks. A maximum break time is set, and a break time notice board must be posted mandatorily. Above all, it ensures an average of more than four days off per month.
In line with the enforcement decree of the revised Apartment Housing Management Act on the 21st, the "Guidelines for Approval Judgment of Surveillance and Solitary Workers among Apartment Security Guards" will also be implemented. Earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced a revision to the enforcement decree of the so-called "Security Guard Gapjil Prohibition Act," clarifying the scope of tasks they must perform beyond security duties. By law, they are not required to perform tasks such as valet parking or delivery of parcels, other than cleaning and separating recyclables.
Furthermore, when judging whether to approve solitary workers, the "mental and physical fatigue" of the worker will be considered an important criterion. Previously, only whether they performed tasks other than surveillance was checked, but now it will be assessed whether the mental and physical fatigue from performing other tasks is high enough to require the application of working hours, breaks, and holiday regulations. Accordingly, approval exclusion will be recognized in cases such as ▲ when the time spent on tasks other than surveillance accounts for a significant portion of the total work ▲ when performing tasks with very high mental tension and risk of injury.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to actively guide and supervise so that the approval system is not abused by having the local employment and labor offices decide approval based on these criteria in the future. Park Jongpil, head of the Labor Inspection Policy Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "We expect the working conditions of security guards to improve through the application of rest facilities and working conditions according to the revised directive and the operation of guidelines," adding, "We will strive to operate the approval system for surveillance and solitary workers in line with its original purpose and intent while reflecting the characteristics of their work."
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