Irregular-Part-time Workers    

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In Korea, it is estimated that over 50% of the economically active population are 'irregular' workers (this includes university professors, administrative personnel, service workers, day-labourers, etc). 

South Korea originally established the irregular/ non-regular worker system to remedy the effects of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.  Under this system, corporations were allowed to employ irregular workers, who could be either hired or fired at the will of the company.  The main goals being:  labor cost reduction and increased labor-market flexibility.   The average monthly pay of of irregular workers was 54.8% of that of their regular counterparts. 

While according to a recent Korea Labor Industry report  (Sept., 2011) 50.6 % of irregular workers were hired for less than 6 months, some 'irregular' workers had been in their position since the late 1990's without ever being made a regular employee -until the Non-Regular Workers' Act took effect.

As of July 2007, The Non-Regular Workers' Act has stipulated that any employee who has worked for the same company for 2 years, must be transfered to regular worker status.  Many employers, however, simply choose to terminate their irregular workers at the 2 year mark, replacing them with new non-regular employees.

If you are an employer of 'irregular' workers, please note that as of September 2011, the government will now pay one-third of both unemployment insurance premiums and national pension contributions for non-regular workers.

K4E Editors' Note; Korea4Expats wants to provide information that is as complete and accurate as possible so if you notice any omissions or errors on this page please let us know at info@korea4expats.com.

Image Source - article from Monitor Resource Center on the History of Korean Irregular Workers.