Notices

More than 18,000 violations of basic labor laws, including failure to inform employees of their working conditions and failure to pay wages on time, were detected in the first half of this year alone. The most common violations involved failure to specify employment terms in writing or provide employees with a copy of their employment contract, which is generally regarded as the first step in protecting workers’ basic rights in the workplace.

3,268 Cases of “Opaque Employment Contracts”

63.7% Occurred at Workplaces with Fewer Than 30 Employees

According to data titled “Status of Labor Inspections Conducted and Actions Taken from 2020 to 2026,” submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to Rep. Park Hae-cheol of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee, labor inspections conducted during the first half of this year uncovered 18,331 violations of labor laws. The most common violation was failure to specify working conditions in writing or provide employees with copies of their employment contracts, with 3,268 cases identified. This was followed by 2,611 cases of unpaid wages and 2,257 cases involving failure to provide wage statements.

These figures resulted from inspections conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor at 6,857 workplaces through the end of June this year. The inspections covered compliance with provisions of the Labor Standards Act, including Article 17 on the specification and delivery of working conditions, Article 36 on settlement of payments upon termination of employment, Article 43 on wage payments, Article 48 on wage statements, and Article 93 on rules of employment. Violations of other statutes, including Article 9 of the Act on the Guarantee of Employees’ Retirement Benefits concerning retirement benefits, were also included.

Violations involving “opaque employment contracts” were concentrated among smaller workplaces. Of the 3,268 cases involving failure to specify or provide employment conditions in writing, 2,080 cases, or 63.7%, occurred at workplaces with fewer than 30 employees.

This figure consisted of 557 cases at workplaces with fewer than five employees and 1,523 cases at workplaces with between five and 29 employees. There were also 805 cases, or 24.6%, at workplaces with 30 to 99 employees, 273 cases, or 8.4%, at workplaces with 100 to 299 employees, and 110 cases, or 3.4%, at workplaces with 300 or more employees.

Labor-law violations overall were also concentrated among smaller businesses. Of the 18,331 violations detected during the first half of this year, 53.1%, or 9,736 cases, occurred at workplaces with fewer than 30 employees.

Specifically, there were 2,049 violations at workplaces with fewer than five employees and 7,687 violations at workplaces with five to 29 employees. In other words, more than half of all labor-law violations detected through labor inspections occurred at workplaces employing fewer than 30 people. These figures suggest a continuing need to monitor whether smaller workplaces comply with basic labor standards.

98% of Violations Over Six and a Half Years Resulted in Corrective Orders

Rep. Park Hae-cheol: “The De Facto Immunity Must Be Eliminated”

The Ministry of Employment and Labor detected 18,331 labor-law violations during the first half of this year, which was 576 more than the 17,755 violations detected during the entirety of last year.,

A Labor Ministry official explained:

“From January through July this year, the total amount of unpaid wages was KRW 1.0814 trillion, down 14.5% from KRW 1.2652 trillion during the same period last year. Although the amount of wage arrears declined, labor inspectors carried out a greater number of workplace inspections, which appears to have contributed to the increase in detected violations.”

Another factor cited for the increase was the Ministry’s decision to conduct more intensive inspections of workplaces considered particularly likely to violate labor laws, including workplaces suspected of misusing comprehensive wage systems.

Nevertheless, the number of violations detected this year is not the highest seen in recent years. In 2023, 40,527 violations were identified at 11,918 workplaces, while in 2024, 36,174 violations were detected at 11,944 workplaces.

Questions have also been raised as to whether the current inspection system, which primarily focuses on corrective orders, sufficiently encourages smaller workplaces to comply with labor laws.

From 2020 through the end of June 2026, Labor Ministry inspections detected a total of 153,338 labor-law violations. Of these, 150,331 cases resulted in corrective orders, accounting for 98.0% of all detected violations.

By contrast, only 1,453 cases, or 0.9%, resulted in criminal proceedings, while 1,489 cases, or 1.0%, resulted in administrative fines.

Rep. Park Hae-cheol stated:

“There is a growing perception among employers that they can simply disregard labor laws, hold out until they are caught, and then correct the problem afterward. For violations of basic labor standards that directly affect workers’ livelihoods, such as failure to provide employment contracts or failure to pay wages, the de facto immunity provided in the name of corrective orders should be eliminated.”

He continued:

“During the upcoming National Assembly audit, I will urge the Ministry of Employment and Labor to establish a zero-tolerance principle under which repeated or intentional violations of labor laws are subject to immediate administrative fines or criminal enforcement.”

By Kang Han-nim Published: September 28, 2026, 6:30 a.m. ssen@labortoday.co.kr

Source: Labor Today (Maeil Labor News)