Yoon & Yang LLC said on the 12th that it held a "seminar on impact analysis and response strategies for construction corporations" on the 11th ahead of the enforcement of the revised Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, also known as the "yellow envelope law."
The seminar was co-hosted by Yoon & Yang LLC and the Korea Construction Management Association, with labor consultancy Sejong Partners taking part. It reviewed legal and managerial risks with a focus on how key issues in the revised Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act—such as the expansion of the scope of employers, changes in the scope of liability for industrial action, and limits on damage claims—will affect the prime-subcontracting structure and on-site operations.
About 150 legal, human resources, and on-site management practitioners from construction, plant, and energy infrastructure corporations, including Samsung C&T, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and Doosan Enerbility, attended the event.
In the first session, attorney Hong Jeong-mo noted that in a prime-subcontracting structure, there could be a greater likelihood that employer status will be recognized even for the prime contractor, which lacks an explicit employment contract relationship, and said, "Rather than responding after a dispute arises, the key is to build a proactive compliance framework by managing risks from the contract-structure design stage and refining internal guidelines."
In the second session, senior expert Choi Young-u explained, using case examples, the types of disputes expected on sites after the revised law takes effect and the response process. Choi emphasized the need for on-site manager training and for establishing a swift internal reporting and communication system, saying, "A single minor response on site can directly lead to a large-scale dispute or legal liability."
Lee Gwang-uk, head of Yoon & Yang LLC's new business group, said, "The enforcement will be a major inflection point that fundamentally changes the landscape of labor and legal risks across the construction industry," and added, "We hope this will serve as a guidepost to minimize confusion on sites and prepare for legal uncertainties." Yoon & Yang LLC said it has run a "yellow envelope law research society" since September last year to make policy proposals and plans to continue tailored advisory services and training.