Labor ministry opens 200-site inspection of public-sector contracts

The labor ministry said Tuesday it will inspect employment practices at 200 public-sector workplaces after repeated short-term contracts were found to be used to avoid severance pay.

The two-month operation broadens a March-April inspection of 30 local governments to public institutions, local public companies, government affiliates and organizations working under service contracts with public bodies.

"The public sector must take the lead in establishing fair employment practices as a model employer," Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said. "The public sector must change before it can demand change in the private sector."

Officials will focus on contracts split to sidestep severance pay, including 364-day arrangements, and verify compliance with rules on employment contracts, unpaid wages, working hours and treatment of nonregular workers.

The ministry said it selected inspection targets after online counseling-center reports and media coverage raised suspicions of unfair employment practices. It also included institutions where a February-March survey found a high share of fixed-term workers on contracts lasting from 11 months to less than one year.

Inspectors will check whether May 29 guidelines on improving treatment for nonregular workers and a pre-screening system for nonregular hiring are being implemented. The ministry said it would take strict action over violations and increase labor-law training for local-government personnel officials from seven sessions a year to 13.

The action follows findings in 27 local governments of 2,117 workers on fixed-term contracts lasting from 11 months to less than one year, alongside 1,833 workers on 364-day contracts. The earlier campaign detected 113 labor-law violations at 28 of the 30 local governments examined, and all were corrected.