As the economic structure has become complicated and new science technologies have been developed, it has become an inevitable trend for companies to strengthen their flexibility in the industrial field. In this regard, the old-fashioned organization ...
As the economic structure has become complicated and new science technologies have been developed, it has become an inevitable trend for companies to strengthen their flexibility in the industrial field. In this regard, the old-fashioned organization form has been rapidly changed in these days. Especially, as an effective manpower policy, outside manpower is brought into the working place because it may ensure sufficient manpower required in the working place without establishing a new labor contract. One of the manpower policies most preferred to Korean is the intra-subcontract. The intra-subcontract refers to a case in which the original contractor deputes a part of business to the subcontractor and the subcontractor performs the contract work in the working field of the original contractor during the period of contraction.
Since the year of 2000, the intra-subcontract has rapidly increased in Korea due to the following reasons. First, the original contractor can easily reduce the cost and improve flexibility on employment through the intra-subcontract. Second, the original contractor does not take responsibility as an employer and does not need to directly face the labor union. Third, a very rigid dispatch system is managed in Korea as compared with other advanced countries. However, the above reasons may be regarded as positive factors of the intra-subcontract taken from the view point of the original contractor, because the intra-subcontract has the following structural contradictions. The intra-subcontract simply replaces regular workers of the original contractor with new workers of the subcontractor and the cost reduction of the original contractor represents the low labor cost of the subcontract workers. Further, although the labor flexibility can be ensured to the original contractor, it may be based on employment instability of the subcontract workers.
In addition, the intra-subcontract of Korea has the following features and problems. First, the subcontractors may not make contract with numerous original contractors at the same time, but exclusively make contract with a specific contractor. In addition, most subcontractors are small-scale businessmen, so they have a very poor business frame. Further, many subcontractors are on standby to take intra-subcontract works.
Under the above situation, the original contractors have an advantage of easily selecting and managing the subcontractors with low cost. In contrast, the subcontractors cannot make the contract in the equal position of the original contractor, that is, the subcontractors have no alternative choice but to accept the contract at the low contract cost. This leads to the poor working conditions of the subcontract workers and promotes employment instability.
Such an intra-subcontract relation has structural contradiction causing a dispute. The dispute relating to the intra-subcontract in Korea has started in the year of 2000. Most of the long-term troubled working fields are in dispute with the intra-subcontract. Therefore, it is necessary to reestablish a principle of law under the dispute by examining the reason and the point of issues relating to the intra-subcontract to provide a method for protecting the intra-subcontract workers. The formation of this thesis is as follows.
In Chapter 1, the purpose, the extent, and the method of research will be described.
Chapter 2 defines the terms used in this thesis relating to the intra-subcontract by refining the concept of intra-subcontract and exhibits the influence of the intra-subcontract upon the society by examining the present situation of the intra-subcontract. In addition, the dispute cases originated from the intra-subcontract will be examined and issues occurring in the dispute cases of the intra-subcontract will be exhibited to define the subject of research that is focused on this thesis.
In Chapter 3, the relation between the intra-subcontract and the distinct standard of worker dispatch, which should be the primarily examined in the dispute relating to the intra-subcontract, will be described. The relation between the intra-subcontract and the worker dispatch is the primary subject to be solved in the intra-subcontract problem, because the applied law and legal effect may be different depending on the relation between the intra-subcontract and the worker dispatch, and the ministry of labor, labor relations commission, public prosecutor's office, and court of justice represent different judgments causing a problem in legal stability.
In Chapter 4, the issues occurring in the intra-subcontract dispute will be examined based on the labor relation. Especially, rightfulness of the worker's request for unfair dismissal and unfair labor practice remedies against the original contractor is described by regarding the original contractor as the employer. Under the labor law, the employer refers to a person taking responsibility for the employee. The employer can be classified into the employer relating to the individual employment relation and the employer relating to the collective labor relation, which will be described separately in this thesis. First, regarding the individual employment relation, the extension of the concept of employer is examined based on the disguised subcontract and unlawful dispatch, respectively. In the disguised subcontract, the legal principles and recognition standard of direct employment will examined. In the unlawful dispatch, the argument whether or not to apply the employee hiring agenda and the propriety in revision of the employee hiring agenda into the employee hiring obligation will be discussed. The extension of the concept of the employer in the collective labor relation will be mainly described with the demarcation issue of the employer extent under the labor relations law. Recently, different from the opinion of the Supreme Court, the Seoul Administrative Court decided that the employer is responsible for the unfair labor practices under the certain circumstances even if the direct labor relation is not presumed, so the legal principals are examined based on the theory and the relating court cases.
In Chapter 5, the problems of the intra-subcontract will be examined, and then the regulation possibilities under labor law on intra-subcontract will be examined. Further, the method for improving the intra-subcontract will be examined while focusing on the restrictions of the intra-subcontract work and protection plan for the subcontract workers. Regarding the restrictions of the intra-subcontract work, the direct restriction of the intra-subcontract work and dispersion of the intra-subcontract work through extension of work to be dispatched will be mainly examined. The protection plan for the subcontract workers will be described in terms of the prohibition of discrimination in employment, relief of employment instability, guarantee of labor union involvement, and the organization of the joint labor-management conference.
In chapter 6, the issues and problems that have been examined relating to the intra-subcontract and the improvement plan for solving the problems ofthe intra-subcontract will be summarized in short.