The Ministry of Employment and Labor(MOEL) came up with a guideline that was designed to separate between working hours and recess hours of the intermittent and surveillance workers such as apartment janitors, school janitors, patrol and security guards. but criticism is sweeping over the guideline that is not practical enough to protect them from the ongoing mass layoffs.
In particular, since last year the ...intermittent and surveillance workers became eligible for the 100% application of the minimum wage rate, it happened that many apartment janitors were dismissed or expedients were used to raise the hourly rate of wage by increasing the recess hours. However, it is pointed out that the guideline does not offer basic preventive measures.
'The guideline regarding the separation of working hours and recess hours of the intermittent and surveillance workers' unveiled by the MOEL on October 4 recommends that regardless of working hours fixed in the employment contract, the hours for which the workers stay under the supervision of the employers or they are forced to wait in the designated working places shall be recognized as working hours.
For example, if they can not get out of the janitor's room during the recess or in cases that they have to sleep in the janitor's room or they are interrupted by the supervision of the employers during the night recess hours, the hours that they stay or wait are calculated as working hours.
The guideline defines the recess hours as the time that workers can use completely free from the work or workers can choose the recess places or with some limited restrictions imposed on the recess places as far as the control and supervision of the employers is not involved. Exception is applied when the fire emergency or intrusion occurs, and the time is regarded as work hours.
The labor circle criticizes that such measures by the MOEL can not improve the working conditions of surveillance and intermittent workers. Apartment janitors, for example, carry out not only their duties of simple security guard work but also various chores of cleaning, recycling, gardening, delivery of posts and parcels, and facility management.
Nevertheless, the surveillance and intermittent workers are not protected by the Labor Standards Act. Working hours and recess are not applied to these workers(LSA article 63) so that their working hours are not regulated by the Act and overtime and holiday additional allowances are not paid. Concerns arise that the guideline may be misused by the employers to increase the recess hours which practically, however, does not contribute to the improvement of wages and working conditions of the intermittent and surveillance workers.
reported by Kim Bong-suk
edited in English by Kim Sung-jin