Jobseekers look at recruitment notices during a job fair of foreign-invested companies at a convention center in Seoul on June 14, 2018, in this file photo. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Many female job seekers are being subject to cases of gender discrimination by employers.
Gabjil 119, an advocacy group for workplace bullying victims, reported that there have been 559 cases of illegal activities reported to the Ministry of Employment and Labor since the employment law was amended in July 2019.
Among these cases, 60.5 percent involved employers asking about the job seeker’s physical description and other personal information.
The new employment law bans employers from asking job applicants about their physical appearance, hometown, marital status, personal assets, and other information irrelevant to the recruitment process.
However, most violations have either evaded sanctions or resulted in relatively insignificant fines. Only one case has been reported to an investigation agency, the civic group said.
In addition, the new employment law doesn’t apply to businesses with fewer than 30 employees, creating a loophole where small businesses can get away with harassing job applicants.
The civic group also pointed out that female applicants, even after they’re hired, are often subject to gender discrimination by being asked to clean, make coffee, and do the dishes at work.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
