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A Comparative Study Between International Treaties and Korean Labor Laws on Women / by Elim Kim
/ KWDI Research Reports /Women's Studies Forum, Vol.11/ December 1995
* This paper is an excerpt and rearrangement of a joint study '94 Research
Report 200-5, A Comparative Study on the UN and ILO's Treaties on Women
and Korean Labor Laws for Women: Legislative Problems of National Law and
Suggestions for Resolution conducted by the Institute researchers Kim
Elim, Choi Yeon-hee, and Jang Young-ah.
- Suggestions for Legislative Strategies for Reorganization -
Kim Elim
Senior Researcher, KWDI
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Background and Purpose of the Research
On September 17, 1991, South Korea became a regular member nation
of the United Nations (UN), an establishment aimed at securing world peace
and human rights. On December 9th of the same year, South Korea also
joined the International Labor Organization (ILO), whose major activity
entails preparing international labor standards in agreement with
representatives of laborers, employees, and government, for the security of
human rights and fair competition.
Accordingly, along with responsibilities of submitting annual
reports on the implementational status of international treaties, the South
Korean government is obligated to approve UN and ILO treaties and to put
forth efforts to include the pertinent international laws into the ROK
national law code.
From this situational standpoint, it can be inferred that South
Korea, where there are a myriad of conflicting points on contents in its
labor and management laws when compared with international labor standards,
is facing a transitional period where a revision of the basic framework and
contents of related laws is mandated.
Furthermore, in line with the recent rapid trend toward
globalization, the inauguration of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is
anticipated in January 1995. With emergence of the Blue Round(The Korean
Association of Administrators (1994), This is the Blue Round.), with its
aim of linking individual country's labor conditions to international
trade, preparations to adjust Korean labor laws to meet international labor
standards became an urgent task for the Korean government.
When the aforementioned circumstances are considered, it is
compelling for both the national government and labor/management to conduct
a thorough comparative analysis between the pertinent international
treaties and national laws to identify conflicting problems, and thereby be
able to establish a strategic plan for approval of tactics and adjustment
of national laws that could lead the current national labor situation in a
progressive direction.
The UN and ILO have been focusing on the issue of protection of
women's labor and their equal right to employment. According to the
changes centered on women's labor, they have been changing or improving
international labor standards related to these issues. The rudimentary
framework and contents of the Korean laws on women's labor, however, are
not up to par, with many aspects contradicting those of international labor
standards.
The Gender Equality in Employment Act of Korea was promulgated in
December 1987. Upon its establishment, there has been increasing opinion
for revision of regulations on women's labor protection set forth in the
Labor Standards Act that was established around 1953 and has been
maintained for four decades without change. As a result, debates on
protection and equality which centered around the issue of women's labor
have gradually intensified.
The Gender Equality in Employment Act, within one year of its
implementation, was revised in 1988 to strengthen its practicality as a
law. Nonetheless, due to the fact that it still lacks full effectiveness,
another revision has been discussed. Furthermore, as new types of
gender-based discriminatory systems (such as new personnel policy systems,
sexual harassment at work, trends of irregular work given to women, and
sexual discrimination within labor unions) have emerged since
implementation of this law, there is a strong demand for this
discrimination to be regulated.
Additionally, a petition for the revision of the Infant and Child
Care Act, which was prepared in 1991, has already been submitted to the
National Assembly for approval. Such efforts to put the labor laws related
to women in good order are the current agenda of women's labor policies and
the women's labor movement.
On February 3, 1994, the government affirmed the First Phase of the
Basic Plan for Women Workers' Welfare, a plan considered as an overall
blueprint for women's labor policies that is to be supported throughout the
government during centralization of authority.
The above plan has significant implications in two respects.
First, it has prepared the basic framework to systematically support
women's labor policies, which had been supported in fragments or in parts
only. Second, it is linked to an overall revision of the previous women's
labor policies and laws.
This basic plan, however, is creating serious debate, because while
it is partially strengthening non-gender discriminatory equal employment
and maternity protection, in return, however, it attempts to moderate
female protection regulations, such as those regarding monthly sick leave.
A plan for a legal revision to support such moderation, which is the cause
of conflict, has already been devised.
Furthermore, because the above plan has been reviewed only by
committees, such as, the Women's Labor Committee, the Coalition Committee
for Women's Policies, and the Administration Committee, and has not been
submitted for examination via orientations or hearings to the groups with
high interests in women's policies (such as management and labor groups or
women's organizations), the degree of the controversy has intensified.
Therefore, with the above circumstances taken into consideration,
this dissertation aims to suggest two tasks to be accomplished as follows:
First, clarify discrepancies between the UN and ILO's international
labor standards and regulations regarding non-gender discriminatory
employment and the protection of women, and those of Korea via comparative
analysis. Second, recommend method of adjusting Korean women's labor
laws--grounded on social agreement--that are appropriate to the current
circumstances, while having the principles of international labor standards
followed through in the meantime.
2. Methodologies and Procedures of the Research
This research has been conducted via diverse methodologies and
procedures. Examples include: research through references, discussions on
methods of revising the law with people from various segments of society,
analysis of statistics on the current women's workforce, study of law
implementational status according to classifications of occupation and size
of industries, surveys of the administration on opinions for legislature on
various societal sectors, seminars on research results, and holdings of
meetings for representatives of various disciplines (1995.5.31).
II. COMPARATIVE BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND KOREAN LABOR LAWS ON
WOMEN
1. An Outline of the Treaties Related to Women's Labor
Upon analysis of international documents prepared for the
protection of women's labor and equal employment for both genders done by
the UN and ILO, whose membership extends to a majority of nations in the
world, it was found that the principles of the women's labor protection
laws have been developed in three phases with each period having distinct
characteristics.
The first phase began around the time the ILO was established and
ended prior to the beginning of World War II. The second phase extended to
the year 1975, International Women's Year, from the establishment of the UN
after World War II. Finally, the third phase includes the years after 1975
up to the present.
A. The First Phase
On analysis fo international documents prepared during the period of this
first phase(During this period, major women labor-related articles
and recommendations were selected. They include: joint agreements on
employment of women before and after delivery (1919, No. 3); women's night
work in industrial sectors (No. 4); recommendations on protection for
children and women against lead poisoning (No. 4); prohibition on usage
of lead in paint jobs (1921, No. 13); women night workers (1934); and
women's labor in mining (No. 45).), three main reasons for thespecial
protection of women could be found. The first reason was because of the
idea that women, like children, are comparatively weak physically as well
as psychologically. The second reason was that females have the unique
functions of motherhood, such as pregnancy, child delivery, and
breast-feeding. The third reason, based on the viewpoint that females
possess the unique function of raising children and taking care of
household tasks, was to protect women's health and safety and to provide
time to work at home.
To be more specific, during the early capitalistic era, which also
can be called a period of primitive capital accumulation, the women
workforce, as a way of cheap labor, was incorporated into the labor market
for sake of profit optimization. Women's labor taken into the market was
completely neglected under severe working conditions. The reformulated
values mentioned earlier, in other words, emerged as a way toward the
solution for combatting problems at hand.
Protection of women during this period had a periodical
background--a view of value as the period for creation of labor protection
laws.
To seek fair and legal differential treatments to different genders
in that period, not only their biological differences, but also the
characteristics of women's relatively weak physical and psychological
status, along with gender-specific characteristics in functions and role
divisions, were emphasized. As a result, women's protection possessed
characteristics of morality and goodness; rights to labor and equal rights
as fundamental human rights, grounds for equal opportunities and treatment
according to one's aptitude and skills, were not acknowledged as the rights
of women.
B. The Second Phase
The aforementioned principles of the protection laws for women
during the first phase began to be re-examined with the inception of the
United Nations after World War II. With the UN's inception, the second
phase began and extended to the years before 1975, the International
Women's Year.
Upon the establishment of the UN, the facts that women (one-half of
the world's population) faced discrimination in employment and such
discrimination was an undermining factor to the peace and development of
the world (as well as to individual nations) were acknowledged. As a
result, the ILO, which had been putting its efforts on women's protection,
transpositioned its major agenda to equal employment for both genders.
(During this period, the UN emphasized women's right to work and sexual
discrimination in the following documents: UN Charter in 1945, The
International Declaration of Human Rights in 1948; International Human
Rights Regulations in 1966; and Declaration on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women in 1967. The ILO also stressed equal gender
employment through joint agreement of equal value to and equal compensation
for labor in 1951 (No. 100) and the selection of joint agreement on
prohibition of discrimination in employment (No. 111).
During this period, the subject of the scope of women's labor
protection laws--that could coexist with gender equality--was actively
debated. An exemplary case is the UN's 1957 deliberation process on child
delivery protection for the International Covenants on Economical, Social,
and Cultural Rights (Regulation A).
Active debate was held in determining the length of the period for
protection of pregnant women who have a child-bearing responsibility. The
debate of the membership nations was focused on whether the protection
period was to be extended until the child-raising and child-education
period or only to be limited to a set period during times when practical
labor cannot be performed by or is not comfortable for women due to
pregnancy or child delivery.
Voters chose the latter option with an overwhelming majority
support. The underlying ground was that child-rearing is not solely the
responsibility of women but one for both men and women. It continued to be
asserted that support for child-rearing, as a result, has to be provided
for homes, not for women. The rationalization was that an overemphasis on
females' roles as mothers could be used for grounds of providing excessive
protection to women, which thereby could result in avoidance of hiring
female workers.
On the agenda for protection of women, excluding the protection for
child delivery, Regulation A showed its stance to limit the target
population for the protection--from employment that could be dangerous or
harmful in aspects of morality, health, and growth, to minors and children
(Article 10), with exclusion of women.
In 1948, the ILO moderated the Agreement on Protection of Women's
Working at Night even further (by expanding its exclusion population, for
instance) through a revision of the Agreement on Prohibition of Women's
Working at Night (1948). On the other hand, a revision of 1952's Agreement
on Child Delivery Protection strengthened protection for pregnancy and
child delivery.
Even during this period, nevertheless, the procurement of the
established idealogy of equal employment for both genders was incomplete;
still a traditional conception of women as protectees and the ideology of
gender-based role division were strongly maintained. For that reason,
measures enabling married women workers (whose numbers greatly increased
since the 1960's) to maintain their lives both at work and at home were
acknowledged as important legislative tasks.
Finally, the ILO's Agreement for Prohibition of Employment
Discrimination (1958) announced that all previous regulations on women's
protection were not to be considered as gender discrimination (Article 1,
Clause 1); the UN's Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (1965) ascribed supportive arrangements for child-rearing to
women only.
C. The Third Phase
International documents clearly state that during the third phase,
which began from the UN's declaration of the year 1975 as the International
Women's Year and runs to the present, two agendas have to be dealt with:
first, having the ideology of gender-free equal employment to eliminate
gender-specific role classification so as to guarantee an equal right to
work; and second, review of the laws for protection of women to accomplish
the previously mentioned first task.
Such a switch on the part of the UN is based upon a theoretical
background. The phenomenon of women's disadvantages and discrimination
(when compared with men) in employment opportunities and treatment is still
being practiced worldwide. The UN asserts that the cause of such a
phenomenon's continuation stems from the unity between the economic
principles of capitalism and the theory of skill-specificity or
role-classification, which is integrately expressed as market labor for men
and house labor for women.
So called "modern feminists" from diverse disciplines, who also
point out the aforementioned theory, assert that gender-specific role
classification defines women's roles at home as child-rearer, free workers
for house chores, and dependents on husbands for living. This definition,
they continue, leads to separation of employment opportunities, work
contents, levels of jobs, types of work, and the compensation of women as
opposed to that of men. As a result, they argue, the dual burden of work
and home is laid upon women's shoulders. In the end, they conclude, women
receive gender discrimination in employment by staying around the
circumstantial labor market (such as unavoidable early retirement, working
part-time, temporary, or low-level jobs), due to their responsibilities at
home.
As a policy to resolve the problems pointed out above, a new
awareness for the creation of laws on working conditions, labor, and social
security has been formulated in international society. These laws have to
be ones that are able to change the traditional economic,
social-structural, and legal conceptualization of women that are founded
upon gender-specific role classifications and allow joint participation and
responsibility of men and women in their lives at home, work, and social
activities. Particularly, such laws have to be enacted by national
governments and industries.
Followed by the UN's Action Plan for the World's Women in 1975 and
the ILO's Declaration on Women Workers' Opportunities and Equal Treatment,
the UN specified in its 1979 Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women that a revolutionary change in traditional
gender-specific role classifications is the fundamental principle for
gender equality.
One step further, it regulated duties and standards of the nation
as an entity to realize legislation and implementation for equal employment
of both genders.
As of 1992, this agreement has been approved by 103 nations. With
the premise that responsibility for the family has to be a burden shared by
both genders, the ILO selected the Agreement on Equal Opportunities and
Treatment for Men and Women Workers with Family Support Responsibilities
(No. 156) and Recommendations (No. 165), and decided not to use the
Recommendation for Employment of Women with Responsibilities for the Family
(No. 123).
The newly chosen agreement regulates prevention of gender
discrimination in employment which may be caused by the responsibilities
for family, and supportive measures for the security of the rights to work.
Additionally, re-examination of the pre-existing special protection
regulations on women workers has been achieved, in this third phase, by
classifying regulations into two categories: maternity protection
regulations and general women protection regulations.
First, it states that the fundamental difference between men and
women are only biological ones; maternity protection for pregnancy and
child delivery are caused from such biological differences and are actually
for the realization of gender equality. Such protection, it continues,
also means protection of a social function for its creation for the next
generation's human resources. Consequently, it concludes, such protection
has to be more solidified, and its expenses have to be shared jointly by
the nation, society, and industries at the level of social security.
Second, it asserts that, excluding maternity protection, women's
protection is grounded on the women's role as an underdog or as people
responsible for house chores. Therefore, it is essentially protection
based on social and cultural differences resulting from a gender-specific
group or general differences and typical conceptions and role expectations,
not on differences of essentiality between the two sexes. Hence, it
states, such protection is to be moderated or abolished according to each
individual nation's progressive status of scientific technology.
By the way, since its goal of re-examination, it warns, is for
the realization of gender equality and improvement of living conditions,
environment or labor conditions are not to be negatively affected.
2. Characteristics of Korean Labor Law on Women and Discrepancies with
International Treaties
Korea ratified the UN's Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women on December 18th, 1984 and the International
Covenants on Human Rights on April 10th, 1990, respectively. According to
the regulations on the Korean Constitution (Article 6, Clause 1), the
individual agreements and regulations of these international treaties were
given equally effective power (the Convention, from January 26, 1985; the
Covenants, from July 10th, 1990) to that of Korean national law.
However the relevant regulations of the Korean national law had not
been put in accord with those international labor standards prior to the
ratification, however. Consequently, there exist various aspects in
Korea's labor-related laws with regard to women that are in conflict with
international standards in regard to equal employment rights and women's
labor protection.
The major conflicting aspects are as follows:
First, the principle of gender equality and special protection for
women's labor co-exists in the Korean Constitution and Labor Standards Act;
they have been gradually solidified and maintained for about 45 years after
the establishment of the Constitution.
Even though the Gender Equality in Employment Act regulates
protection for maternity as not being grounds for gender-discrimination
(Article 4, Clause 1), its scope, however, is not clear. Even supportive
measures for child-rearing, for example, are regulated as protection for
maternity.
Such a legislative outlook could be viewed as a thoughtful
consideration toward the reality of women's poor working conditions.
Nonetheless, it also clearly shows an aspect that is in conflict with the
principle of gender equality, because its underlying framework is based on
patriarchal values. Especially, the Gender Equality in Employment Act is
based on the view of gender-specific role classification, thereby
presenting confused characteristics regarding the Equal Treatment portion
of the Labor Standards Act and the Acts Related to Women's Welfare.
Second, regulations on monthly sick leave (Clause 59) and travel
expense for home-coming (Clause 62) in the Labor Standards Act are unique
special protection regulations that cannot be found in other nations, other
than in Japan where they originated. Particularly, menstruation leave with
pay is guaranteed only in Korea.
Third, the ILO prohibits employing women for paint work that
requires handling paint with lead elements, or any work requiring
product-handling containing benzene, for the purpose of protecting women in
pregnancy and child-delivery.
These two prohibitory regulations do not exist in Korea. Instead,
simply six categories of work((1) Work dealing with high-voltage wiring and
related electrical machines and tools (No. 18). (2) Work handling
vehicular transportation of logs with diameters of 75 cm or
more in diameter (No. 28). (3) Work in places with a danger of
the collapse of sand, or in underground tunnel with its depth
greater than five meters, with exclusion of assisting work on
the ground (No. 39). (4) Construction or demolition of log
access-boards (No. 41). (5) Work that gives a severe vibration
to the body by use of a rock drill, for example (No. 49). (6)
Work dealing with heavy materials, 30 kg for a short period and
20 kg for any extended period (No. 56).), considered severe physical labor,
are regulated as occupational hazards for women. Categories prohibited
from employing women include mining, construction work, and manufacturing,
where mainly mechanization or automation is not implemented in operational
procedures (Labor Standards Act, Article 51, Implementation Order, Clause
44).
Fourth, compared with the ILO's Maternity Protection Agreement (No.
103), Korean laws provide a considerably shorter period for child-delivery
leave, not to mention other inadequate provisional regulations for the
protection of pregnant women.
Fifth, the ILO's agreement (No. 103) stipulates that guaranteed
earnings during the child-delivery leave has to be drawn from the nation's
social security or public funds; it should not be the individual's
responsibility.
In Korea, however, industries are solely responsible for this
expense in its entirety, thereby furnishing grounds for
gender-discrimination in employment.
Sixth, another area where the ILO's agreement and Korean laws are
in discrepancy is in the area of night labor. The ILO's article 89
prohibits employing women for a total of 11 hours, to include a nine-hour
span between 10 pm to the following morning at 7 or 9 am, while Korean
Labor Standards Act prohibits it between 10 pm until the following morning
at 6 am, totaling eight hours.
Additionally, Korean women's protection laws are uniformly applied
to all industrial employees as long as there are five or more regular
employees, regardless of occupational type, job classification or level.
This uniformed application can be more clearly differentiated from
that of the approved ILO's article on night labor and the agreement on
prohibition of women's work in mining (No. 45). In these two agreements,
women who are in position for managerial or technical responsibility, or
those who work in health or public welfare facilities, are excluded from
the prohibitory regulations.
The main area where Korean laws are not in accordance with those of
the ILO's is that in Korean law: no regulations exist to regulate male
workers' night labor, to regulate night workers' protective measures, and
furthermore, to protect women during pregnancy.
Seventh, the ILO's agreed-upon article 156 imposes regulations on
equal employment rights and supportive measures as rights for both genders
who bear the responsibility of supporting direct family members, including
infants. Korean laws, on the other hand, provide such supportive measures
only to women with responsibilities for infants.
Regulations for the protection of women in the Labor Standards Act
in Korea were established in May 1953. Essentially, however, it was almost
an imitation of Japan's 1947 regulations. Around the ratification of the
UN's Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 1985,
however, Japan put its related laws in good order as a part of the
reconstruction of national law. They established an Equal Employment Act,
in conjunction with the order for an overall revision of the Women Labor
Protection Act. One such effort resulted in the establishment of Child
Care Leave Act in 1991 that applied to both genders. Consequently, there
is a considerable gap between the laws of the two countries at the present
time.
III. DIRECTION AND PROPOSALS FOR REORGANIZATION OF KOREAN LABOR LAW ON
WOMEN TO REALIZE GENDER EQUALITY
1. Fundamental Principles in Reorganization Law
First of all, from the standpoint of legal principle one must determine
what the desirable relationship is between the women labor protection laws
and the principle of gender equality in employment before assessing what is
the best possible legal or other course of action. Once that has been
done, one must then determine from a realistic and legislative standpoint
at what time, in which order, and in what manner these revisions or changes
will take place. For the latter, the realistic ability to implement these
protective measures, women's working status, the level of working
conditions of laborers in general, women's status in society and the
family, and various other conditions and realities must be taken into
consideration.
In other words, while the basic aims and directions in revising our
nation's laws will be in line with the basic framework set forth by the UN
and the ILO on the establishment of gender-equal employment opportunities
and the protection of women, we need to carefully consider the present
realities of women in the labor force and search for a means to realize
such goals in a gradual and step-by-step manner.
In order to realize gender-equal employment opportunities, the UN
and ILO have periodically reexamined their regulations concerning the
protection of women, since the situation has changed from the time when
regulations were first set forth. As a result, they have adopted a method
in which nations can choose to modify or abolish some of the regulations
according to each country's internal situation or choose them to apply to
both genders.
Second, the ultimate purpose of revising Korea's women-related
labor laws is to provide all workers with equal opportunities for
employment regardless of gender and allow them to take part in economic
activities amidst healthy and safe working conditions. At the same time,
women should have their basic rights guaranteed as they raise their
families, while their exclusive maternity protection should be
strengthened. In other words, emphasis must be placed on changing the
prevalent classification of economic roles according to gender which has
acted as an ideological impediment to women's participation in economic and
social activities, and revising the relevant regulations so as to
strengthen gender-equal employment opportunities and maternity protection.
Third, toward this end, the legal principles and systems of the
women-related labor laws, including the labor laws on the protection of
women and the Gender Equality in Employment Act must be restructured from
the perspective of realizing fully labor rights, equal rights, and the
right to maternity protection. In other words, the women-related labor
laws can be restructured into a law system in which laborers' rights to
equal employment opportunities are realized, women are given full maternity
protection, healthy and stable working conditions are guaranteed, and
workers are able to fulfill their responsibilities at work and at home.
2. The Contents of Laws to Be Reformed
The main essence of each of those laws can be changed as follows.
A. The Gender Equality in Employment Act
It should design to guarantee that all workers have the right to equal
opportunities in employment regardless of gender, it should reflect the
principle that for both men and women, gender is a predetermined biological
matter and should not be a basis of discrimination, and that people should
have the opportunity to work according to their talents and their nature.
The law should include measures which will abolish gender discrimination
by ensuring equal treatment in every area including employment
opportunities, working conditions and environment, job training and
security, and labor union activities, as well as positive measures to
eliminate the existing disparities caused by such gender discrimination.
Together with this, regulations need to be made regarding sexual
harassment within the workplace in line with the current international
legal trends as well as on gender discrimination in employment.
B. The Maternity Protection Act
It should ensure that women are given leave during pregnancy,
childbirth and the nursing stage so that their working will not adversely
affect the natural physical and physiological functions characteristic of
women. The Act should also contain protectively measures to ensure that
such maternity protection does not a source of employment discrmination.
By the way, not only do these maternity protection
measures help women but they serve as social safety measures since the
maternity functions of women contribute to society by allowing the
reproduction of the human resources needed to power our country and
economy. From that perspective, the expenditures entailed in such
maternity protection should therefore not be left to businesses and
employers, but should be a public expenditure.
C. The Occupational Safety and Health Act
The laws which up until now have provided special protection only to
women should extend equal protection to both men and women, except for
those regulations pertaining to maternity protection. Differences among
workers' physical characteristics and strength should not be judged
according to their gender but on an individual basis.
D. The Measures for Supporting the Dual Burden of Women Workers
The law should provide support measures which focus on
helping workers to fulfill their responsibilities both at work and at home.
In other words, workers who are responsible for childcare, nursing, and
other household tasks should have their workloads alleviated or adjusted
accordingly. Up until now, the responsibility for household tasks has
fallen upon women in accordance with the typical gender-based role
classifications, and the majority of family living assistance measures have
been targeted at women. As a result, women who have both work and family
responsibilities find it almost impossible to receive equal opportunities
and treatment as men, of course, and also with women who do not have family
responsibilities. This living assistance provided only to women also
contributes to employers' reluctance to hire women. Therefore, until the
problem of gender role classification within the family is addressed, it
will be difficult to implement institutional measures to promote equal
employment opportunities. In addition, men being excluded from receiving
family living assistance goes against men's right to sustain their
families. One can thus say that ideologically, this polict runs counter to
the principle of non-gender-discrminatory employment opportunities,
particularly since such support is not extended to both men and women.
Accordingly, the current legal system under which child care assistance
falls under maternity protection measures must be revised. In addition,
workers, regardless of gender, who have family responsibilties should be
given due consideration for such responsibilities.
3. In Reexamining Korean Current Laws
The Laws on the protection of women, the emphasis should not be on
lowering the standards of protection of women to a level equal to that of
men; rather, it should be on either raising the standards of protection for
men or on first coming up with and implementing alternative measures before
lessening or eliminating those regulations providing special protection
only to women except for those pertaining to maternity protection. Such
alternative measures should be geared towards reducing the number of
working hours for all workers and other ways of improving working
conditions, revising or fixing the Gender Equality in Employment Act,
eliminating the presently imbalanced wage system in which women receive
lesser pay, strengthening childcare support and assistance,and abolishing
the notion of gender role classification within the family,the workplace,
and society, among other things.
The laws concerning the protection of women should not be
eased or eliminated unilaterally on the basis of the government's plans.
Rather, an in-depth research study on the actual level of compliance and
the effects of the present regulations to protect women should be
completed, and on the basis of that, the government should hold sufficient
discussions and exchanges with labor and management representatives, as
well as other related parties. After having collected the opinions and
views of all the relevant groups and made the appropriate modifications,
the government should then implement its legislation reform. Women should
be active particularly during the consultation and decision-making process
about these problem.
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