From This Year, Workers Earning Less Than 3 Million Won Monthly Can Apply for Free Legal Services for Unfair Dismissal

Labor Commission Expands Support for 'Free Appointment of Rights Remedy Representatives'

Monthly Average Wage Threshold Raised from Under 2.5 Million KRW to Under 3 Million KRW

A scene from the "Press Conference Condemning the Seoul Employment and Labor Office for Neglecting Human Rights Violations and Unfair Dismissals" held in front of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in Jung-gu, Seoul, on May 31. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Starting this year, workers earning less than 3 million KRW per month on average will be able to receive free legal support services from lawyers and certified labor attorneys when applying to the Labor Relations Commission for rights protection such as unfair dismissal. This expands the current threshold from 2.5 million KRW per month.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Central Labor Relations Commission announced on the 31st that they will implement a public notice expanding the support target from January 1, 2022, reflecting the wage increase trend in recent years. This is the fifth adjustment since 2008, when the threshold was 1.5 million KRW, then 1.7 million KRW in 2010, 2 million KRW in 2014, and 2.5 million KRW in 2017.

Introduced in 2008, this system allows workers earning below the monthly average wage announced by the Minister of Employment to appoint lawyers or certified labor attorneys as representatives free of charge when applying to the Labor Relations Commission for rights protection such as unfair dismissal relief or discrimination correction. The representatives provide legal services including legal consultation, preparation of statements of reasons, attendance and testimony at hearings. After applying for rights protection at the Labor Relations Commission, workers can receive the service by submitting an application form for appointing a representative along with documents showing their monthly average wage.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the cumulative number of service uses since the system's introduction is approximately 23,000 cases. Currently, there are 458 representatives active at the Labor Relations Commission, including 146 lawyers and 312 labor attorneys. A ministry official stated, "The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Central Labor Relations Commission plan to strengthen promotion and guidance of the system so that workers who lack knowledge of labor laws and have low wage levels, making it difficult to appoint representatives, can benefit from the free service."