[EXPLAINER] Who counts as employer in Korea under new law?

Korea has drawn a new line on who qualifies as an employer. In the first decision under the pro-labor “yellow envelope law” last week, a regional labor commission ruled that state-run institutions that oversee safety management and staffing for subcontracted workers can be treated as employers and be required to come to the bargaining table. The government says the decision appears to reflect a finding of “substantive and concrete control” based on the specific facts of the case, while businesses worry that this could mark the start of a flood of bargaining demands from subcontractor unions. The South Chungcheong office of the National Labor Relations Commission, which serves as the primary forum for determining “employer” status in practice, ordered four organizations, including the Korea Asset Management Corporation, to respond to a request from a union that represents subcontracted cleaners, security guards and facility workers. The office said it found that work contracts and testimonies of the workers verified that the public institutions exerted substantial influence o

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