Social welfare facilities, which play an important role in carrying out social services in South Korea are only ‘facilities’ rather than independent corporate entities under the Social Welfare Services Act, while there are separate operators of so...
Social welfare facilities, which play an important role in carrying out social services in South Korea are only ‘facilities’ rather than independent corporate entities under the Social Welfare Services Act, while there are separate operators of social welfare facilities. Both individuals and corporations can be operators of social welfare facilities, but in general, corporations establish and operate social welfare facilities. However, in practice, social welfare facilities perform social services with some degree of independence, and the directors of social welfare facilities often exercise discretion in managing and supervising social services carried out by the facilities. Employment-related matters of social welfare facility workers are often handled by the director, rather than the operator of the social welfare facility, and labor contracts of social welfare facility workers are often concluded in the name of the director of the facility. This type of work practice makes it difficult to clarify the legal rights and obligations by specifying the parties when social welfare facility workers claim rights under the Labor Standards Act or when legal disputes related to the Labor Standards Act occur.
This study examines legal issues related to the conclusion of labor contracts of workers in social welfare facilities. It confirms that the ‘business owner’ who works in social welfare facilities is the installation and operator of social welfare facilities, not the head of social welfare facilities. To this end, the status of workers in social welfare facilities signing labor contracts is analyzed first, followed by a review of the legal status of social welfare facility installers and operators in these labor contracts (that is, the status of ‘business owners’ under the Labor Standards Act). In particular, since there is a large proportion of facility workers signing labor contracts with facility heads, in such cases, the legal status of social welfare facility installers and operators in the labor contract and the effect of the labor contract are also examined. Finally, issues relating to the business ownership are reviewed, since the ‘business owner’ of social welfare facilities means that social welfare facility installers and operators have rights and obligations under the labor relations legislation, which includes the Labor Standards Act and the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, etc. Therefore, if a social welfare facility installer or operator becomes a ‘business owner’ under the Labor Standards Act and actively intervenes in employment relations, problems such as open recruitment and the possibility of unfair personnel intervention for social welfare facility workers may arise. In discussing these issues, this article calls for alignment of labor relations of social facility workers under labor law.