Watchdog to punish age discrimination by employers

SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- With a law criminalizing age discrimination set to
take effect this month, South Korea's human rights watchdog said Tuesday it would
work with the labor ministry to crack down on local employers who discriminate
against job seekers.

Under the new law, which passed the National Assembly last year and takes effect
on March 22, employers found guilty of age discrimination against job seekers
will be subject to a fine of up to 30 million won (about US$21,000).
The National Human Rights Commission said that it will accept petitions from
victims of age discrimination and ask the Labor Ministry to take punitive
measures, including fines, against violators.
"We will first ask the violators to correct their practices. If they don't
comply, we'll notify the Labor Ministry," the watchdog said in a release.
"The incumbent laws designed to discourage age discrimination don't carry a fine."
It explained that any public employment notices imposing age limits on applicants
would be a violation of the anti-discrimination law.
The commission also said that starting next year, the new law will additionally
ban age discrimination in determining employee wages, promotions and layoffs.
"The commission has received 426 petitions regarding age discrimination since its
foundation in 2001, which accounts for nearly 11 percent of the total," the
watchdog said. "The anti-age discrimination act is expected to establish a
desirable employment environment in the country," said the commission.
In 2006, the watchdog urged the nation's top carriers, Korean Air and Asiana
Airlines, to drop its policy of banning people aged over 25 from applying for
flight crew positions. The two carriers repealed their controversial hiring
practice the following year.
The commission's recommendation was the first given to private companies to
modify controversial hiring practices.
brk@yna.co.kr
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