Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Republic of Korea (Ratification: 1998)

Article 1 of the Convention. Legislative developments. In its previous comment, the Committee noted that a steering committee had been set up regarding the enactment of a general anti-discrimination act. The Committee also notes from the 2013 Annual Report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK) that the Commission reviewed the draft Framework Act on Employment Policy and advised the Government to restrict the submission of information on education, occupation and properties of a job applicant as it may cause discrimination in the process of recruitment for employment. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made to adopt anti-discrimination legislation, which the Committee hopes will include explicit prohibition of discrimination on the grounds enumerated in the Convention. Please also provide information on progress made to include provisions relating to anti-discrimination in recruitment in the draft Framework Act on Employment Policy.

Articles 1, 2 and 3(d). Access of women to the police force. The Committee recalls the very low proportion of women in the police force, 7.6 per cent in 2013, as well as their concentration in posts of police administration. The Committee recalls the Government’s statement that the employment of female officers had been increasing at a rate of 20 per cent per year. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to promote equality of opportunity and treatment of men and women in all posts of the police force, including during the recruitment process, and the results achieved in this regard. Please provide statistical information on the proportion of men and women in the different posts of the police force.

Equality between men and women. In its previous comment, the Committee noted several measures taken by the Government aimed at reconciling work and family responsibilities, in particular the reduction of working hours for childcare and family-leave care. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the announcement of support measures for working women’s career continuation at every stage of life, which intend to help women to stay in the labour force, to prevent women from moving to lower-paid jobs when reemployed after a career break, to promote the participation of men in childcare and to actively expand customized childcare. In this regard, the Committee refers to its 2011 observation on the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the support measures for working women’s career continuation at every stage of life, as well as their impact on improving equality of opportunities between men and women in employment and occupation. Recalling the negative impact of social stereotypes regarding the roles of men and women on equality of opportunity and treatment, the Committee again requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to address gender stereotypes, including in its policy to promote women’s employment in the public sector.

Article 1(1)(b). Additional grounds of discrimination. Age, disability. The Committee recalls its previous comments noting the high rate of cases rejected or dismissed regarding discrimination on the basis of age and disability. The Committee notes from the Annual Report 2013 of the NHRCK that out of the 2,492 complaints filed in 2013 (615 of which related to employment), more than 1,300 concerned discrimination based on disability and 141 cases concerned discrimination based on age (page 160). The report also indicates that concerning disability discrimination, 755 cases were rejected and 699 cases dismissed respectively, and 90 cases concerning age discrimination were rejected and 57 cases were dismissed. The Committee reiterates its previous requests for the Government to continue to provide information on awareness-raising activities regarding the prohibitions of discrimination based on age and disability and on the reasons for the high rejection or dismissal of complaints on these grounds.