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Isu-isu terkait perekrutan yang utama di Korea Selatan selalu dihubung-hubungkan dengan pembangunan yang cepat yang negara tersebut lalui dalam tahun-tahun belakangan ini.  Menurut sebuah kajian tahun 2013 oleh ILO, transformasi ekonomi yang cepat mengakibatkan melonjaknya permintaan untuk tenaga kerja berketrampilan tinggi, kemudian menciptakan kebutuhan untuk merekrut tenaga kerja asing dari negara-negara tetangga yang kaya tenaga kerja namun miskin. Kekurangan tenaga kerja di Korea Selatan terpusat terutama diantara perusahaan-perusahaan manufaktur berskala kecil dan menengah, kontruksi dan bisnis berorientasi jasa.

Berbeda dengan negara-negara Asia lainnya (misalnya  Thailand, Malaysia), Korea Selatan tidak berbatasan dengan negara-negara miskin dengan pasar tenaga kerja yang longgar, yang membuat negara tersebut mengontrol imigrasi yang tidak tetap. Serupa dengan Jepang, Korea Selatan memiliki angkatan kerja relatif homogen: sampai tahun 1990, Hukum Korea melarang mempekerjakan buruh migran berketrampilan rendah di negara tersebut. Ini mulai berubah belakangan ini. Perkembangan-perkembangan ini menyebabkan ketidakpuasan tertentu di kalangan penduduk Korea, dan beberapa berpendapat bahwa tensi atau ketegangan bisa jauh meningkat saat negara tersebut menerima lebih banyak tenaga kerja asing.

Untuk mengatasi perubahan lingkungan dan kekurangan tenaga kerja, Korea Selatan menciptakan Sistem Perijinan Kerja atau the Employment Permit System (EPS), sebuah program penerimaan tenaga kerja asing, yang bertujuan untuk melawan diskriminasi atas dasar ras, sukum agama, jenis kelamin, dsb. Negara tersebut sudah memiliki Komite Kebijakan Tenaga Kerja Asing, yang menentukan kuota tahunan bagi tenaga kerja asing yang diterima di negara tersebut. Kuota tersebut lalu dibagikan kepada negara-negara asal yang potensial yang telah menandatangani perjanjian bilateral dengan Korea Selatan (10 negara). Dengan demikian, Korea Selatan menghindari agen-agen perekrutan swasta , berbeda sekali dengan negara-negara Timur Tengah , merekrut tenaga kerja asing melalui komunikasi antar pemerintah (G to G) .  Setelah perekrutan , tenaga kerja asing memiliki hak-hak yang serupa dengan tenaga kerja pribumi,  juga pembatasan berganti majikan, dan berhak untuk manfaat-manfaat yang sama, seperti asuransi, kesehatan dan pensiun.

Tanpa bermaksud mengabaikan kekuatan dari proses perekrutan Korea Selatan tersebut , sebuah laporan ILO juga menyoroti kelemahan-kelemahannysa. Dimulai dengan sistem yang gagal mengatasi kekurangan tenaga kerja. Laporan ILO tersebut sering menemukan tak sesuainya antara kemampuan pekerja/buruh dengan persyaratan-persayaratan pekerjaan yang mereka terima. Seringkali, Sistem Perijinan Kerja atau the EPS menempatkan tenaga kerja asing di tempat kerja yang lebih berbahaya dalam hal kesehatan dan keselamatan kerja, bila dibandingkan dengan warga kebangsaan Korea. Karena tenaga kerja asing datang ke Korea Selatan memiliki setidaknya pendidikan menengah, salah penempatan mengakibatkan cuci otak dan pengurangan ketrampilan.

Dan lagi, terbukti bahwa perlakuan kejam terhadap buruh migran khususnya di dalam sektor pertanian telah menjadi isu di Korea Selatan. Amnesti Internasional (2014) mengkritik EPS karena terlalu ketat menerapkan pergantian pekerjaan yang menambah resiko kerja paksa bagi buruh migran dan eksploitasi oleh majikan berhubung terbatasnya opsi-opsi alternatif. Selain ilegal, banyak majikan mensubkontrakan buruh migran ke pertanian-pertanian sepertinya memperlakukan mereka tak lebih dari komoditi dan mengancam buruh dengan PHK, yang bisa mengakibatkan dideportasi. Dilaporkan bahwa dalam beberapa kasus majikan yang tidak membayar gaji penuh, buruh migran harus kerja lembur tanpa kompensasi dan tak mendapatkan cukup istirahat (Amnesti Internasional, 2014). Dan lagi, buruh migran prihatinan karena kurangnya perlindungan misalnya saat bekerja dengan pestisida. Amnesty International (2014) kemudian menuduh pemerintah Korea Selatan tidak serius menanggapi pengaduan keluhan buruh migran dan tidak menghukum majikan-majikan yang memperlakukan buruh migran secara tidak adil.

Masalah umum lainnya adalah bahwa buruh migran terjerat banyak hutang untuk bisa membiayai migrasi tenaga kerja (Amnesty International, 2014).

Cari tahu lebih lanjut tentang tingkat penghormatan terhadap hak pekerja di negara ini berdasarkan Indeks Hak Asasi Global ITUC di sini. 

 

See below Updated Content 7 April 2022.

The main recruitment-related issues in South Korea are associated with the rapid development that the country has been going through in recent years. According to a 2013 study by ILO, rapid economic transformation has produced a rising demand for highly skilled workers, thus creating the need to recruit foreign workers from labour-rich but poor neighbouring countries. Labour shortage in the Republic of Korea is concentrated mainly among small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, construction and service-oriented businesses.

As opposed to other Asian countries (e.g. Thailand, Malaysia), South Korea does not have borders with poor countries with loose labour markets, which makes it easier for the country to control irregular immigration. Similarly to Japan, South Korea has had a relatively homogeneous workforce;  until 1990, the Korean law prohibited low-skilled migrant workers' employment in the country. This started changing only recently. These developments have caused certain dissatisfaction among the Korean population, and some have argued that the tensions might intensify further as the country admits more foreign workers.

To address the changing environment and labour shortage, South Korea created the Employment Permit System (EPS), an admission program for foreign workers, which aims at countering discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, etc. The country has a Foreign Worker Policy Committee, which determines annual quota for foreign workers to be admitted to the country. The quota is then shared to potential origin countries which have signed bilateral agreements with the Republic of Korea (10 16 countries). Therefore, South Korea avoids private recruitment agencies and, in contrast with Middle Eastern countries, recruits foreign workers through government-to-government communication. After recruitment, foreign workers have similar rights as native workers, apart from a restriction on changing employers, and are entitled to similar benefits, such as insurance, healthcare, and pension.

Regardless of the mentioned strengths of South Korean recruitment process, an ILO report also highlights its shortcomings. To begin with, the system fails to adequately address labour shortages. The ILO reports frequent mismatches between the workers' capabilities and the requirements of the jobs they receive. Often, the EPS places foreign workers at workplaces that are more dangerous in terms of occupational safety and health, as compared to Korean nationals. Since most foreign workers coming to South Korea have at least secondary education, their misplacement leads to brain waste and de-skilling.

In addition, evidence suggests that abuse of migrant workers especially in the agricultural sector is an issue in the Republic of Korea. To secure stable labor force of companies and protect Korean workers, the change of the workplace of migrant workers through the general employment permit system is possible only for specific reasons, and the number of times is limited. However, the Korean labor movement, including the Migrants' Trade Union, opposes the regulations because this regulation does not protect "freedom of choice of occupation, equal rights, and prohibition of forced labor." Amnesty International (2014) criticises the EPS for being too restrictive regarding job change which increases migrants' risks of forced labour and exploitation by employers due to limited alternative options. Despite being illegal, many employers seem to subcontract migrants to other farms treating them more as commodities and threatening workers with dismissal, which might lead to deportation.

It has been reported that in some cases employers do not pay the full salary, that migrants must work overtime without compensation and do not get adequate rest (Amnesty International, 2014). According to Article 63 of the Labor Standards Act, work hours, recess, and holidays are not applied to agriculture workers, etc. In addition, the legal minimum wage for general sailors is higher than the legal minimum wage for workers working on the land. However, migrant sailor workers are subject to a separate minimum wage.

Dormitory problems are also serious. Plastic greenhouse, container boxes, and accommodations without a toilet are often provided as dormitories. And, a considerable amount of money is often deducted from the monthly salary for dormitory expenses. The improvement of accommodation for workers who entered through EPS is underway, but for other migrant workers, even regulations are still poor. In 2022, there was a migrant worker who died in a fire at the factory's accommodation. (https://www.khan.co.kr/national/labor/article/202203031347001)

The issue of health rights is also serious. According to the Migrants' Trade Union, the incidence of industrial accidents among migrant workers is higher than that of Koreans. Workers at workplaces without business registration of fewer than five agriculture workers are not allowed to subscribe to workplace health insurance. A local subscription is required, which is higher than the workplace health insurance fee. Medical accessibility is very low due to labor without holidays, lack of information on medical institutions, and lack of interpretation, so health rights are limited.

In addition, migrants voiced concerns about insufficient protection for instance when working with pesticides.Amnesty International (2014) furthermore accuses the South Korean government of not taking complaints from migrant workers seriously and of not prosecuting employers who treat migrant workers unfairly.

Another common problem is that migrant workers get into huge debts to be able to finance labour migration (Amnesty International, 2014).

Find out more about the degree of respect for workers rights in this country based on ITUC Global Rights Index here (2021).