(3) Primary Results of Labor Mobility Panel Surveys by Mode of Employment (1 – 8)
In 2013, the South Korean Ministry of Labor announced the results of the Labor Mobility Panel Survey by Mode of Employment (1 – 8) in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the
Act on the Protection of Non-Regular Workers, implemented on July 1, 2007. This survey polled a sample of 20,000 fixed-term workers, conducting its first survey in April 2010 and its eighth and final survey in April of 2012, observing changes in labor mobility, labor conditions and worker satisfaction during a period of two years.
According to the report released by the Ministry of Labor, as of April 2012, with regard to 1.215 million fixed-term employees subject to the
Act on the Protection of Non-Regular Workers, 575,000 (47.3%) were still working at the same job, and 640,000 (52.7%) had left the job. Among 640,000 who left the job, the largest category, of 440,000 left for a different job (69.4%), 82,000 became unemployed (12.8%) and 114,000 (17.9%) had left the work force(Figure7). Looking at the reasons why people had left their job, 392,000 (61.3%) had left voluntarily, exceeding the 248,000 (38.7%) who had left involuntarily.
The 1.215 million temporary workers (① fixed-term) subject to the
Act on the Protection of Non-Regular Workers, 71,000 had become regular full-time employees at the same workplace, and 68,000 had become regular full-time employees at a different workplace, for a total of 139,000 (11.4% of fixed-term workers) becoming reclassified as regular employees. Combined with the 424,000 workers who were reclassified as contractual employees for an indefinite contractual period under the
Act on the Protection of Non-Regular Workers by working at the same workplace as fixed-term workers for over two years, this amounts to 563,000 workers whose employment status was protected by the
Act on the Protection of Non-Regular Workers, or 46.4% of all fixed-term workers.
Examining the ratio of fixed-term workers reclassified as regular employees by business size, 20.2% were at business with over 100 employees (hereinafter "100 or more-person businesses"), twice as many as the 10.1% at businesses with fewer than 100 employees (hereinafter "under 100-person businesses"). On the other hand, the ratio of those classified as contractual employees for an indefinite contractual period was 75% at under 100-person businesses, higher than the 69.6% at 100 or more-person businesses.