GH Takes Steps to Protect Human Rights of Construction Day Laborers... Distributes Standard Employment Contracts

Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation

Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation (GH) announced on the 13th that it distributed the GH Construction Daily Worker Standard Labor Contract, prepared at the ESG Management Committee meeting held on the 25th of last month, to construction sites to realize 'opportunity and human rights' for construction workers.

The GH Construction Daily Worker Standard Labor Contract was promoted to strengthen the rights of construction workers to work safely, corresponding to GH's innovation strategy of 'human rights and integrity,' and to implement the Gyeonggi Province 8th-term public election pledge plan to protect the rights of workers in the blind spots of labor laws.

Although the Ministry of Employment and Labor has distributed a standard labor contract form to conclude labor contracts under the Labor Standards Act, there has been a practice at construction sites of substituting it with work confirmation documents instead of the standard labor contract.

As a result, construction daily workers faced issues of working under unclear contracts. In response, GH prepared the standard labor contract to induce actual labor contracts at construction sites and to create a fair contract culture through improving working conditions.

The GH Construction Daily Worker Standard Labor Contract is the first system introduced by a local public enterprise, clearly specifying hourly wages, mandatory subscription to retirement pension contributions, calculation methods for various statutory allowances, and wage conditions.

This aligns with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s policy to enforce mandatory electronic attendance cards for public construction projects over 100 million KRW starting in 2024, linking and expanding the electronic card system with the direct wage payment system (Public Procurement Service’s subcontractor protection system), and is expected to contribute to protecting the rights and interests of construction workers.

Kim Se-yong, President of GH, emphasized, "The preparation of the GH Construction Daily Worker Standard Labor Contract will provide fair labor opportunities to construction daily workers who create value in our society but have not received appropriate compensation."