Migrant Workers Face Discrimination When Applying For Job Training(03-17-2003)
Two migrant workers, Zaw Lin (male?30?Burmese) and Shujatariq (male?28?Pakistani), who were injured while working for domestic companies, filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in March 2002 against the Korean Labor Welfare Corporation (KLWC) when they were rejected for job rehabilitation training.
The NHRC concluded, "Excluding migrant workers from the job rehabilitation training application process because of their nationality is discrimination and a violation of freedom of equality," and recommended the Korean Labor Welfare Corporation to make changes to their job rehabilitation training system to include migrant workers, including the petitioners.
The petitioners for the case claimed, "Excluding illegal foreign workers, and industrial trainees who are legally recognized as workers and receive industrial accident compensation insurance by the Labor Standards Act, from job rehabilitation because of their nationality is discrimination."
The KLWC, however, said they excluded migrant workers because the job rehabilitation program is a welfare program with a limited budget, and the program is not for everyone injured at work, but only for those who have the ability to go back to work. The KLWC also stated that they excluded migrant workers because the final goal of the job rehabilitation program is to help people go back to work, whereas migrant workers can sometimes face legal limitations for re-employment.
The result of the NHRC investigation showed that the Korean Labor Welfare Corporation"s job rehabilitation program is based on stipulations outlined in the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, and the program the petitioners applied for included an admission to the job rehabilitation center and monetary support. In addition, the KLWC"s admission requirements for program are those aged 50 or below who were injured at work and able to manage their own everyday lives.
The requirements for monetary support are 1) disability grade 1-12 according to the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (Article 42, Clause 1), 2) aged 60 or less at the time of application 3) unemployed at the time of application. Meanwhile, the Guidelines Of Monetary Support For Job Training For The Injured At Work made by the Korean Labor Welfare Corporation (Article 2) states that requirements for job training are "those who were injured, unemployed or do not own their own business, and want to receive job rehabilitation."
Accordingly, there is no regulation about excluding migrant workers in relation to job rehabilitation. The Korean Labor Welfare Corporation"s exclusion of migrant workers from job training was found to be groundless.
The NHRC advised the KLWC to revise their job rehabilitation training system because 1) migrant workers can receive insurance regardless of legal status according to Article 5 of the Labor Standards Act, and therefore they can be included in job rehabilitation training on the basis of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, 2) Excluding migrant workers from application for job rehabilitation monetary support is against the principle of equal opportunity when migrant workers are not listed in the "exclusion list" of the Guidelines Of Monetary Support For Job Training For The Injured At Work, 3) if a limited budget is a reason of selective support for job rehabilitation, the application process should be based on reasonable principles, but migrant workers were excluded from the beginning.
