The new implementation guidelines published by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on 3 September leave scope for manpower redeployment, a core element of corporate investment, to become subject to industrial action. The business community is increasingly concerned that advanced industries could miss the optimal timing for investment and is calling for supplementary legislation.
On 3 September, the Ministry of Employment and Labor published implementation guidelines on management decisions and other matters, setting out whether they should be subject to labor-management negotiations. As a result, new corporate investment and business-management decisions themselves were, in principle, excluded from negotiations on the grounds that they could infringe the rights and interests of third parties. However, scope remained for matters to become subject to negotiations when workforce transfers arising from layoffs or restructuring related to factory relocations, new construction or the introduction of new technologies were publicly known.
Companies have pointed out that if personnel transfers to secure skilled workers for new investment were to cause delays or industrial action, factory operations could become difficult. They are particularly concerned that advanced industries such as semiconductors could miss the optimal timing for investment. In fact, reports have emerged that the construction of Samsung’s Honam semiconductor plant would be placed on next year’s agenda, as well as a case of labor-management conflict on an Atlas production line operated by Hyundai Motor Group.
Academics and the business community have described the current guidelines as the “Nooda guidelines” and criticized them, saying that leaving them as guidelines would undermine investment stability. While calling for supplementary legislation and the need to codify the provisions explicitly in an enforcement decree, umbrella labor organizations and others have objected that the guidelines infringe the three basic labor rights. The current situation is considered capable of causing confusion at workplaces, and the limitations of the guidelines as nonbinding administrative guidance have been highlighted.