The enforcement decree amendments and interpretation guidelines related to the yellow envelope law, a new labor law aimed at strengthening the bargaining rights of subcontract workers (amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act), were finalized on the 24th.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said the amended enforcement decree of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act was reviewed and approved at the Cabinet meeting that day. The amendment will take effect starting on the 10th of next month, in line with the law's effective date.
The crux of this revision is that it makes concrete the bargaining standards in the relationship between principal contractors and subcontractors. Until now, even when principal contractors affected subcontracted workers' actual working conditions, there was confusion over whom to bargain with under the law.
The new enforcement decree clarifies the standards the labor commission can apply when dividing or merging bargaining units. It changed the following to "reasons for decision that must be prioritized": ▲ the commonality or similarity of interests between unions ▲ the appropriateness of representation of interests by another union ▲ the potential for conflicts between unions and the possibility of distortion if the bargaining unit is maintained.
It also includes criteria for determining "employer status." To be a bargaining counterpart under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, one must be recognized as an employer, and disputes have repeatedly arisen over how far a principal contractor's responsibility extends. In the interpretation guidelines, the government presented a standard that a party can be viewed as an employer if it "substantively and structurally controls and determines" the worker's working conditions. However, as some in labor circles raised concerns that this might only recognize employer status under strict conditions such as "illegal dispatch," the explanatory language on this point was strengthened.
The ministry said, "The determination is based on whether the contractual employer's decision-making on the determination of working conditions is restricted," adding, "Compared with dispatch, employer status can be recognized under relatively relaxed conditions."
Support measures were also prepared to reduce confusion on the ground. The ministry will operate the Advisory Committee on Collective Bargaining Determination Support, an advisory body composed of legal and on-site experts. It will also launch the Principal-Subcontractor Win-Win Bargaining Consulting. After diagnosing labor and management's bargaining preparations, it will mediate and coordinate bargaining agendas and methods.
Minister Kim Young-hoon said, "We will continuously review and supplement on-site feedback so that labor and management can find solutions autonomously through bargaining, and even after the law takes effect, we will organically link the interpretation guidelines, consulting, and determination support system," adding, "We will provide full support to prevent disputes and ensure that cooperative labor-management relations take root."