The prospects and challenges for The Employment Permit System

1. overview

International migration in the Asian region has changed substantially in terms of its magnitude, directions and characters over the last decade. Migration in this region takes a variety of forms like tourists, students, refugees, family reunion, labour, business - but particularly temporary labour migration, has experienced the most rapid growth.

Labour migration is expected to become increasingly important to the countries in the region for the foreseeable future, on condition that the economic and demographic features of the Asian economies would vary widely : GDP of Viet Nam is $400, while that of Japan is $30,000

Most countries in Asia are increasingly seeking out foreign labour markets for their workers as poverty, high unemployment and lack of development prevail.

Korea is one of the few labour-importing countries in Asia.  Korea indeed has an embedded structural demand for foreign labour, which is currently being compounded by its aging population.  Korea is really no different in this respect from other industrialized nations with well educated and wealthy populations, as there exists shortages of labour in certain occupations and wage levels.

When foreign workers began to come to Korea in 1987, a shortage of manual workers was estimated at 100,000.  However, 16 years later in 2004, the number of foreign workers in Korea has climbed to more than 400,000.  Importing Foreign workers is inevitable now.

For the mean time, industrial trainee system and illegal workers-employment were the only means for foreign labor supply.

But the practice of industrial trainee system and the reliance on illegal workers have been leading to a trend to disobedience to the law, irregularities of sending procedures and an encroachment on foreign workers' rights.

The cumulative effects of these problems eventually gave a birth to the Employment Permit System. On August 16, 2003, the "Act on the Foreign Workers Employment, etc." was legislated, which stipulates introduction of the Employment Permit System for Foreign Workers and measure to convert illegal foreign workers to legal ones.

2. The meaning of introduction of the EPS

The EPS allows employers, who have failed to hire domestic workers, to legally hire an adequate number of foreign workers and it is a system that the Korean government uses to introduce and manage foreign workers in an organized manner;

ⅰ) The EPS is looking for a kind of labour migration regulated by bilateral agreements between the sending and receiving countries.

The recruitment agreements or employment contracts will specify wage levels, duration of employment, working conditions and labour market rights of the workers, and may enhance the responsibilities of all parties(governments).

All activities (information dissemination, database set up and registration of potential migrant workers, selection, pre-departure orientation, complementary orientation in the country of destination, job placement, return and reintegration, monitoring) are strictly regulate by the governments.

In which we will assign yearly quota to all the sending countries according to employer's preference, the estimation of practice of sending procedures, the number of illegal workers. So, sending countries are competing with each other and this would lead to a closer attention on the sending procedures, the posting of labour attaches, sending costs reduction, eradicating irregularities, and guarantee of fairness in recruiting.

Eventually, we expect this system will bring together all parties to establish labour migration mechanism that balances different interests.

ⅱ) Foreign workers under the EPS shall have the status of worker from the beginning and have their basic rights protected equally as the Koreans for the three working years according to labor-related laws such as the Labor Standards Act. (providing effective protection and services)

The Korean Ministry of Labor will step up to monitor businesses that hire foreign workers to prevent industrial accidents, wage dues, and etc.

Meanwhile, foreign workers are supposed to work at the workplace where they signed labor contract for the first time. Working period is set at maximum of three years to prevent permanent settlement of foreign workers in Korea.

3. The challenges

The biggest challenges for The EPS are the protection of foreign workers and the prevention of illegal workers.

The EPS sets up the more progressive steps to protect foreign workers and expands the access to the Korean labour market by foreign workers.

So, the handling a number of illegal workers and the prevention of illegal workers in the future seem to be the key element for settling down the EPS.

The Korean government will keep the policy that illegal foreign workers must depart as soon as possible.  This can not possibly be changed without an exception....

The Korean government has already given many chances to illegal workers, offered the recognition of illegal workers and many benefits for voluntary leavers such as the exemption of fines and inclusion of their names in the roaster of job seekers under the EPS.

To facilitate order in the EPS, interstate cooperation for preventing illegal workers and enforcing illegal workers to depart is most important.

Continuous and adamant crack-down and stricter punishment will be reinforced against illegal workers and their employers.

Sending countries will also have to make aggressive efforts such as guidance training for the prevention of runaways without notice and giving special sanctions.

4. Conclusion

Labour migration is not a new phenomenon and indeed has been officially encouraged and tolerated when it is in the interest of the economy.

The EPS will be one of the effective measures for controlling and facilitating labour migration rationally.

However, the presence of illegal workers arriving via human smuggling and trafficking networks, and the overstaying visa entitlements have become a contentious issue for the receiving countries.

Many policies for short-term or for long term such as preventive diplomacy, orderly repatriation, development aid and the creation of more opportunities for trade and investment can be taken for preventing illegal workers

However, All medicines will prove useless without interstate cooperation and interstate comprehension.

Taking the opportunities of the EPS, we hope for a close cooperaton with the sending countries and the success of all the policies related with foreign workers.

Thank you.