Research Report
Legal Imperatives for Future Generations I - Focusing on Youth Labor -
Ⅰ. Research objective and method
▶ Research objective and its necessity
○Despite the decrease of youth population due to recent population change, the ratio of working youth has increased steadily keeping higher than average 7.0% without showing rapid decline from 2010 to 2019.
○However, it is current status that the youth still become the object of various unfair labor behavior at real labor site and stay at the low level of right to labor.
○As the insufficiency surely exists regarding youth labor-related law, this research is willing to suggest the improvement plan for the relevant law by applying new type and development of new change against youth labor.
▶ Research scope and method
○The youth whose age are higher than 13 less than 19 were taken as main research object when linking age standard and their curriculum based on the law analysis of youth labor.
○Basically this research is based on Korean and foreign literature review and willing to suggest law improvement plan by reviewing main advance researches and legal issues to develop the alternative discussion regarding the necessity of youth labor-related legislative improvement.
○Comparative method analysis about labor-related legislative system of ILO, Germany and Japan was also added to science of law methodology.
○Expert meetings and workshops were carried about by appointing specialists in the academic world and person in charge in Ministry of Gender Equality and Family that is the department takes care of policy about youth labor as the consultants.
○Furthermore, the conference was held with the experts to deepen the discussion on legislative system improvement regarding labor rights and interests of the youth as the legal task for future generation and its results were applied to the research as well.
Ⅱ. Meaning and current status of youth labor
▶ Meaning and characteristics of youth labor
○The youth labor means "the behavior that the youth provide their labor force by participating in labor market regardless the price for the labor".
○The youth labor enables to open the opportunity of choosing the career by continuing the learning during the process of their growth and keep their positions as the member of community in the safe and respectable labor environment as well as self-actualization.
○So, as the protection of the youth that is future generation is structured as the righteous duty of consideration in respect of national sustainability, the stronger protection system is being built in labor-related law considering the characteristics of the age called youth.
▶ Main agencies regarding youth labor
○Currently, youth labor protection center of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and youth labor rights and interests center of Ministry of Employment and Labor are operating the organizations to protect the rights of working youth each.
▶ Actual situation and current status of youth labor
○According to the results of investigating harmful media and its usage of the youth in 2020, it shows the answer "I don't have enough money to do what I want though I receive pocket money" as the highest ratio of reason for job search by 43.7% rather than the purpose of experiencing the career that is accumulating career activities.
○In case of youth part-time job type change, it showed cafeteria and restaurant as the first in 2016, 2018 and 2020, however, the weight of delivery and driving was increased to 15.2% in 2020 due to the influence of COVID-19 that is approximately 30 times of 0.5% in 2018.
○It shows that more than 70.8% received their allowance by hourly wage as the payment for the youth labor, however, it means that the youth are always exposed to the risk of being infringed regarding labor rights and interests as it is difficult to improve the treatment directly under such wage system.
○In case of unfair treatment regarding youth labor, the unpaid wage was the highest as mentioned above and the weight of 'overtime' that requires the labor when it is not the working day or time appeared as 14.7%.
○The questions of medical treatment and compensation for the case the youth get hurt were asked in the results of investigation, however, it is difficult to judge whether the actions in need of industrial safety and health care are taken or not with such questions.
Ⅲ. Legislative analysis, issues for improvement and direction of improv-ing legislative system regarding youth labor
▶ Legal issues and direction of improving legislative system about labor standards
○Clause 5, Article 32 of Constitution protects the rights and interests of the youth by legislative restriction according to age standard by stipulating the youth whose age is higher than 15 and less than 18 can be hired only in 「Labor Standard Act」 to specify the special protection for labor of minors.
○The standard of 'higher than age 15' that is the lower limit that is capable of youth labor belongs to third grade at middle school in Korean school system, however, it may cause the result of interfering the right to learn of the youth if it is set for the system to allow them to get a job without completing the course considering that middle school curriculum is the compulsory education.
○According to the standard of 'less than age 18' that is upper limit of youth labor in 「Labor Standard Act」, the youth whose age are 18 who belong to third grade at high school are supposed to be excepted.
○So, it is necessary to review to the plan to revise to 'higher than age 16 and less than 19' to expand the object of protection by linking age standard of youth labor in 「Labor Standard Act」 to educational curriculum.
○Getting the job is allowed only when the legal representative concent (parental guardian or guardian) is placed at the business place (Article 66, 「Labor Standard Act」) and only after receiving the approval of finding the employment from the Minister of Employment and Labor if he or she is less than age 15 in case of youth labor, the legislative supplementation is needed for the ones who do not have the parents or are not belonged to school can never be qualified though they are required to get the jobs.
○As Article 69 of 「Labor Standard Act」 stipulates the working hours of the youth whose ages are higher than 15 and less 18 only currently and the standard of working hours of the ones whose ages are less 15 and can work exceptionally, the protection system for each age is inefficient.
○As total working hours per week (35 hours a week) of the youth whose ages are less 15 in 「Labor Standard Act」 is set higher than that of 「Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act」, it is need to improve to unify them according to the legislative objective.
○With regard to that penalty clause is not prepared in detail for the case the welfare organizations for the youth and their staff do not report it obligatorily when they recognize the law violations of youth labor in 「Framework Act on Juveniles」, it suggests the necessity of arranging the penalty clause to enhance the responsibilities of the organizations and their staff, importance of primary measures and the national supervision of youth labor.
○The system of protecting health right is not prepared in current Korean Labor Law, however, it suggests the necessity of legal foundation for health right of the youth at working sites by carrying out health medical examination periodically and monitoring their health status after hiring so that it can be checked if their health and growth are influenced by their labor by submitting the results of the examination like 「Act on Minors Labor」 in Germany.
▶ Legal issues to enhance monitoring youth labor and direction of legislative improvement
○Regarding establishment of basic policy for the youth in 「Framework Act on Juveniles」, it suggests the necessity of building the integrated information system policy for the youth that is capable of preparing the ground that carries out the general status investigation on labor, education, health and welfare in more detail, monitoring and providing the people with the status of policy from its results constantly.
○It can be used as the basic data for more aggressive legislation alternative and preparing the policy by suggesting the youth labor-related status in integrated way indicated in individual statistics and survey each based on such system.
○It can be the ground that is capable of arranging the base so that the youth can be the righteous members of the society by career activities and participation in labor in the characteristics of employment influence assessment whose main contents are focusing the analysis of influencing factors on future labor environment and cultivating the alternative for good quality of jobs if the influence on youth labor is analyzed and announced continuously as well.