Labor Inspections Conducted at 1,166 Sites in First Half of Year: Numerous Violations of Employment Contracts and Wage Delays
The Daegu Employment and Labor Office (Director Kim Kyuseok) announced the results of the 2024 first half labor inspection for workplaces in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions on the 25th.
The Daegu Employment and Labor Office and its five branch offices conducted labor inspections on 1,166 workplaces by the end of June this year, including 1,143 workplaces (42% of the 2,720 workplaces in nine inspection categories), 13 construction sites, and 10 workplaces in the financial sector and others subject to discrimination correction inspections.
As a result of the labor inspection, 3,294 violations of labor-related laws were found in 1,028 workplaces, and corrective action was requested. Of these, 1,031 cases (31.3%) were violations of written labor contracts, 682 cases (20.7%) were wage arrears, 640 cases (19.5%) were violations of wage statement issuance, 103 cases (3.1%) were failure to conduct workplace sexual harassment prevention training, and 838 cases (25.4%) were other violations.
The Daegu Employment and Labor Office immediately prosecuted 20 workplaces that failed to comply with corrective orders, violated the Dispatch Act, or repeatedly committed the same violations such as wage arrears within the past three years. In addition, 970 million won out of the 2.21 billion won in wage and allowance arrears at 440 workplaces was resolved.
The Daegu Employment and Labor Office and its five branches gave all workplaces subject to inspection an opportunity to self-diagnose and voluntarily correct legal violations in advance. As a result, the number of detected cases slightly decreased, but violations of basic labor order such as wage arrears, failure to conclude written labor contracts, and failure to issue wage statements still persist.
Unlike last year, this year’s inspections focused on workplaces with a history of reported cases. As a result, during the “On-site Prevention Inspection Day,” conducted for two weeks in the last month of each quarter for workplaces with fewer than 30 employees, the amount of detected wage arrears increased to 256 million won, a 3.6-fold increase compared to the first half of the previous year.
From this year, through the “Anonymous Reporting System” established on the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s Labor Portal, a planned inspection of a construction company in Daegu revealed wage arrears of 206 million won for 20 current employees. Of this, 126 million won for 16 employees was resolved, and the company representative was prosecuted to recover the remaining arrears.
A planned inspection of an electronics company in the Gumi area revealed violations of the Dispatch Act. The prime contractor was ordered to pay bonuses totaling 40 million won to about 30 employees of the subcontractor, and was also instructed to directly employ about 40 subcontractor employees.
Kim Kyuseok, Director of the Daegu Employment and Labor Office, stated, “Since violations of basic order still persist, we will strengthen efforts to raise awareness of legal compliance among business owners through education and campaigns. In the second half of the year, we will continue to strictly enforce the law using all available means, including prosecution and special inspections, for workplaces that violate the law, such as wage arrears.”
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