Failure to notify of failure, non-payment of physical examination fees, etc.
341 cases detected at 220 workplaces in the first half of this year
A number of companies were caught violating hiring procedures, such as asking questions about family relationships or physical conditions unrelated to the job and not notifying unsuccessful candidates of the results.
On the 21st, the Ministry of Employment and Labor inspected 629 places including online job postings, workplaces employing many young people, and construction sites in the first half of this year, and found 341 cases of unfair hiring practices in 220 workplaces.
Candidates are lined up to enter the interview room for new employees at a public institution held at COEX in Seoul. (Photo = Reporter Heo Young-han)
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The Ministry of Employment and Labor imposed fines (42 cases), issued corrective orders (30 cases), and recommended improvements (269 cases) for violations.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor intensively inspected job postings on online job portals, reflecting the fact that 47.7% of young people look for jobs online in the Korean Labor Panel Survey. As a result, it was revealed that A Medical Foundation required job seekers to list their physical conditions and the occupations and positions of their immediate family members on its resume form, and that B, a transportation company, required applicants to attach copies of their resident registrations to their application documents, thereby verifying their hometown and marital status.
According to the Recruitment Procedure Act (Article 4, Section 3), recruiters cannot request or provide personal information that is not necessary for job performance from job seekers, and the collection of supporting documents is prohibited. If this is violated, a fine of up to 5 million won is imposed.
In addition, it was discovered that Company C had charged 42 job seekers for the cost of physical examinations for employment, and they took steps to refund the money. Failure to comply is subject to a fine of up to 3 million won.
A large number of companies were also found to have not notified that the application documents would be returned or to have kept them beyond the retention period (up to 180 days). D Credit Union stated that documents submitted for job postings would not be returned at all and did not inform applicants of the right to request the return of documents or the retention period. Company E was caught keeping the application documents of dozens of failed applicants, and F Cooperative made job seekers pay for the return costs.
According to the Recruitment Procedure Act, when a job candidate is confirmed, the recruiter must immediately inform the job seeker of the hiring decision. There were many cases where only successful applicants were notified of the hiring decision among the workplaces, but since there were no separate punishment provisions, only 45 cases of improvement recommendations were made.
Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik said, “It is urgent to secure the effectiveness of the obligations that are not properly functioning in the field,” and added, “We will support the spread of youth-friendly hiring practices through a comprehensive revision of the Fair Employment Act.”
Reporter Lee So-jin adsurdism@asiae.co.kr
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Source: www.asiae.co.kr
