Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2023, Publicación: 112ª reunión CIT (2024)

Convenio sobre la edad mínima, 1973 (núm. 138) - República de Corea (Ratificación : 1999)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report, of the observations of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and of the Government’s reply to these observations, all received on 28 September 2022. The Committee also takes note of the detailed observations of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), received on 7 September 2022. The Committee requests the Government to provide its reply to the observations of the KCTU.

Articles 3 and 6 of the Convention. Hazardous work and apprenticeships. The Committee notes that the Republic of Korea currently has an “on-the-job training” (OJT) system for 12th graders (typically 16–17-year-olds) attending specialized vocational high schools and a “work-study combination” (WSC) system for 11th and 12th graders (typically 16 to 18 years of age) at apprenticeship high schools.

The Committee observes that the KCTU essentially alleges that the OJT and WSC systems cannot be regarded as vocational or technical training in the practical sense because they are mainly used to increase the early employment rate of students in vocational or apprenticeship high schools rather than to provide learning and skills to the trainees involved. Moreover, according to the KCTU, trainees often work in unsafe conditions, leading to occupational accidents, and they are often unsupervised and receive little to no actual training.

The Committee notes the KCTU’s allegation that the OJT system, despite being regulated through the Vocational Education and Training Promotion Act, exposes youth to poor working environments without sufficient guidance. Issues raised by the KCTU regarding the OJT system include weak occupational safety and health implementation and a lack of oversight during training and a lack of effective management and supervision. The KCTU also observes that trainees are exposed to dangerous working conditions. Of the youth dispatched to companies for on-the-job training, some are assigned to very risky environments with many hazards, such as those related to construction, machinery, chemical engineering, and electricity. Many of these OJT participants do not receive sufficient occupational safety education prior to such an assignment and are therefore often involved in industrial accidents while performing their work. The Committee notes, from the observations of the KCTU, that there were six industrial accidents involving on-the-job trainees in 2019 and five in 2020, many of which involved serious injury. The KCTU observes that, given the high likelihood that less major accidents were not reported due to the nature of on-the-job training, the actual total number of industrial accidents is very likely higher. The KCTU also provides information on a 2021 accident that led to the death of an on-the-job trainee while he was diving to remove barnacles from the hull of a leisure boat at a yacht marina. Not only is diving work classified as an occupation prohibited to young persons under 18, under section 65 of the Labour Standards Act (and other regulations), but it was reported that at the time of the accident, the trainee had no diving-related qualifications, certificates, experience or skills.

With regard to the WSC system, the KCTU indicates that, according to the Act on Work-study Combination at Industrial Sites (the “WSC Act”), “work-study combination” refers to a program of vocational education and training that an employer (“participating company”) provides on- and off-site to “participating employees” on performing their duties. The issues raised by the KCTU regarding this system include the fact that this type of training occurs in a corporate environment in which proper training cannot be provided to participating employees (due for example to the small size of a majority of participating companies and to the lack of on-site trainers); that the work at participating workplaces has little to do with school lessons and learning, and often requires no skills; and that participating employees are exposed to danger. The KCTU alleges that there are also safety issues within the training programmes of the WSC system, that a report from a full-scale survey inspecting the operation of apprenticeship schools in South Jeolla (Jeonnam) Province showed that only 79.7 per cent of participating employees answered that they had received safety education from their companies, and that 15.6 per cent of them work without safety equipment or have to buy their own safety equipment. As many as 33.7 per cent of the respondents answered that they themselves or a friend had been injured while working. One-third of participating employees directly or indirectly experienced an industrial accident.

The Committee further notes that the FKTU, in its observations, indicates that the industrial accident death of the trainee in 2021 has highlighted a serious issue that is currently emerging as a social problem in the Republic of Korea: the working conditions and protection measures for “student labourers”/”student youth workers”. In this regard, the FKTU indicates that the Government announced the launch of the “Additional Improvement Plan for Occupational School Field Practice to Secure Safety and Rights”, on December 2021, which itself identifies the three major issues in the training systems: (1) lack of systematic management, supervision and support to ensure the safety of students; (2) low awareness of the field training for students on-site; and (3) insufficient conditions for education-centered field training, and the lack of environment for the expansion of opportunities. The FKTU indicates that, in this regard, the plan aims to promote field training safety, expand the protection of field trainees’ rights and interests, and reinforce the foundation for field training operations. The FKTU observes that the details on the implementation status of such improvement measures should be provided by the Government.

Finally, the Committee notes that, in the Government’s reply to the FKTU’s observations, the Government states that, while it deeply shares the need for the prevention of occupational accidents for students in technical education and is taking measures to ensure the occupational safety and health of on-the-job trainees, this issue is not under the scope of the application of the Convention, because Article 6 excludes from the scope of coverage of the Convention work done by young persons in schools for general, vocational or technical education or other training institutions.

In this regard, the Committee notes that the minimum age of for apprenticeships and vocational training in Korea appears to be 16 years and that, therefore, trainees are generally over the minimum age for admission to employment or work. The Committee recalls, however, that while work done in the course of vocational training or apprenticeships is not covered by the provisions of the Convention, this relates only as regards the minimum age requirement, namely that children under the minimum age may perform work if it is in the framework of vocational education or apprenticeships (the latter for children over the age of 14). However, the requirements of Article 3 of the Convention, regarding protection from hazardous work, apply to all children and young persons, including those engaged in vocational training or apprenticeships (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 385).

The Committee therefore notes with concern the situation regarding the lack of safety and adequate training and supervision given to trainees. The Committee recalls that Article 3(1) of the Convention provides that the minimum age for admission to any type of employment or work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals of young persons shall not be less than 18 years. While Article 3(3) of the Convention allows certain hazardous types of employment or work to be performed as from the age of 16 years, this is provided that certain conditions are met: (1) the organizations of employers and workers concerned must have been consulted beforehand; (2) the health, safety and morals of the young persons concerned must be fully protected; and (3) they must have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity. The Committee further recalls that these conditions must be applied to all workers, including young persons in the course of their apprenticeship or vocational training. The Committee therefore requests the Government to ensure that trainees under the age of 18 years are not engaged in hazardous types of work, particularly those prohibited to children under the age of 18 in accordance with section 65 of the Labour Standards Act and/or other regulations. If trainees over the age of 16 years are engaged in certain types of hazardous work in the course of their apprenticeship or vocational training, the Committee urges the Government to take measures to ensure that the performance of these hazardous tasks is authorized only as prescribed by Article 3(3) of the Convention, namely that their health, safety and morals are fully protected and that they receive adequate, specific instruction or training in the relevant branch of activity. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard, as well as on the consultations held with the concerned organizations of employers and workers on this issue.

Article 9(1). Penalties. The Committee notes the Vocational Education and Training Promotion Act, which serves as the basis of the OJT system, provides that the state and local governments shall guide and supervise on-the-job training (section 7). Regarding its operation, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Employment and Labour, and metropolitan/provincial superintendents may provide guidance or conduct inspections, such as ordering vocational education and training institutions and on-the-job industries to report or submit materials as necessary or having relevant civil servants perform field inspections (section 25). The KCTU alleges that while on-site inspections in the framework of the OJT system can be conducted along with the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency or the Korea Industrial Safety Association (when they request to join the inspection first), they are usually carried out by a labour attorney alone, who visits only once and ticks each box either “good” or “poor” on the checklist, in accordance with the “2022 Company Coaching Project Manual for On-the-job Training of Vocational High Schools”. The FKTU indicates that the manual asks labour attorneys to focus more on “guiding” companies or “explaining” the system so that the companies can carry out on-the-job training, rather than expecting strict adherence to the checklist items.

With regard to the WSC system, the KCTU indicates that one of the reasons why participating companies do not provide a safe training environment for participating employees is that the WSC Act itself does not obligate companies to do so. Even if an industrial accident occurs, the designation of the company as a participating company is not cancelled, and the company either receives a corrective order or their designation may be temporarily suspended (section 14(1)3) of the WSC Act). Participating companies are required to take safety measures in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, but if they fail to fulfil this obligation, the penalty is only a fine not exceeding five million won (approximately US$3,725) (section 42(2)2) of the WSC Act).

The Committee recalls that Article 9(1) of the Convention requires that all necessary measures, including the provision of appropriate and sufficiently dissuasive penalties, be taken by the competent authority to ensure the effective enforcement of the provisions of this Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that all persons who, in the framework of the OJT or WSC systems, either:

• employ children between the ages of 16 and 18 in hazardous work without respecting the conditions of safety and training, or
• employ children under 18 years of age in types of hazardous work that are prohibited in accordance with section 65 of the Labour Standards Act and/or other regulations,

Incur effective and sufficiently dissuasive penalties, and not only warnings or guidance, in accordance with Article 9(1) of the Convention. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the type of violations of the Convention detected by inspections in both systems, and the number and nature of penalties imposed.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request directly addressed to the Government.