Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 (No. 160) - Republic of Korea (Ratification: 1997)

The Committee notes the Government’s report, the partial replies to its previous comments and the attached documentation. It also notes the observation by the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on the application of the Convention, which was forwarded by the Government.

According to the KCTU, the statistics compiled in relation to Article 1 of the Convention on the structure of employees only cover full-time workers, making it difficult to gain any appreciation of the situation of workers employed on the basis of atypical arrangements and of temporary workers and part-time workers with a contract for less than one year. As the proportion of these workers is relatively high and their working conditions very poor, the KCTU considers that statistics on these workers are urgently required to understand their real situation.

With regard to the application of Article 3, the KCTU indicates that workers’ organizations were not given the opportunity to participate fully in the compilation of statistics on the economically active population and on household income and expenditure, as the meetings are held at the discretion of the Government, on a case-by-case rather than a regular basis. Following its exclusion from the Subcommittee on Social Statistics of the National Statistical Office, the KCTU is still awaiting a reply from the Government concerning the creation of a consultative committee on labour statistics.

Finally, in relation to Articles 7 and 8, the KCTU considers that certain statistics concerning atypical workers which are no longer collected should be included in the main survey on the economically active population.

The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate its position on the points raised by the KCTU and report any measures adopted or envisaged to ensure a better statistical coverage of all categories of workers, including those employed on the basis of atypical arrangements, in surveys on the wage structure and distribution (Article 10) and on the cost of labour (Article 11).

The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on other points.