Future Issues of Indefinite Employment Reclassification Rule - Learning from the Precedent in South Korea -

2019年03月26日

(金 明中) 社会保障全般・財源

■Summary
 
  • In both Japan as well as South Korea, the increase in non-regular workers can be observed as a long-term trend.
     
  • In 2007, as the increase in non-regular workers accelerated, the South Korean government implemented the "Act on the Protection of Non-Regular Workers."
     
  • Ten years have already elapsed since South Korea introduced its Act on the Protection of Non-Regular Workers. Since this new system has been implemented, socio-economic changes and the impact of the system have somewhat reduced the ratio of non-regular workers in the workplace, but non-regular workers still account for over 30% of all jobs. Further, the malignant practice of hiring cutoff remains as it is.
     
  • Even those who have been reclassified as indefinite-term contractual workers due to the implementation of the Act on the Protection of Non-Regular Workers have seen no improvement in their working conditions, and many are faced with an increasingly wide gap in wages and benefits when compared with regular employees.
     
  • Japanese Government applied its own "indefinite employment reclassification rule" from April 2018.
     
  • Even though Section 20 of Japan’s Labor Contracts Act prohibits discrimination against fixed-term contract workers as compared with indefinite-term contract workers, it does not address discrimination against indefinite-term contract workers as compared against regular employees.
     
  • Even if hiring cutoff is not as severe as it was in South Korea, it is feared that neglecting to take measures to improve working conditions for indefinite-term contract workers will create new disparities between indefinite-term contract workers and regular employees.
     
  • We continue to monitor what measures the Japanese and South Korean governments will take to improve working conditions for non-regular workers and indefinite-term contract workers.


■Index

1――Introduction
2――Definition of non-regular employee in Japan and South Korea
  (1) Definition of non-regular employee in Japan
  (2) Definition of non-regular employee in South Korea
3――Background of Act on Protection of Non-regular
 employee’s enforcement and changes after that
  (1) South Korean government enforced Act on Protection of Non-regular
    employee
  (2) Changes after enforcement of Act on Protection of Non-regular employee
  (3) Primary Results of Labor Mobility Panel Surveys by Mode of Employment
    (1 – 8)
4――The Start of an "Indefinite Employment Reclassification Rule" in Japan
5――Conclusions

生活研究部   上席研究員・ヘルスケアリサーチセンター・ジェロントロジー推進室兼任

金 明中(きむ みょんじゅん)

研究領域:社会保障制度

研究・専門分野
高齢者雇用、不安定労働、働き方改革、貧困・格差、日韓社会政策比較、日韓経済比較、人的資源管理、基礎統計

経歴

プロフィール
【職歴】
独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構アシスタント・フェロー、日本経済研究センター研究員を経て、2008年9月ニッセイ基礎研究所へ、2023年7月から現職

・2011年~ 日本女子大学非常勤講師
・2015年~ 日本女子大学現代女性キャリア研究所特任研究員
・2021年~ 横浜市立大学非常勤講師
・2021年~ 専修大学非常勤講師
・2021年~ 日本大学非常勤講師
・2022年~ 亜細亜大学都市創造学部特任准教授
・2022年~ 慶應義塾大学非常勤講師
・2024年~ 関東学院大学非常勤講師

・2019年  労働政策研究会議準備委員会準備委員
       東アジア経済経営学会理事
・2021年  第36回韓日経済経営国際学術大会準備委員会準備委員

【加入団体等】
・日本経済学会
・日本労務学会
・社会政策学会
・日本労使関係研究協会
・東アジア経済経営学会
・現代韓国朝鮮学会
・韓国人事管理学会
・博士(慶應義塾大学、商学)

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