After inspecting 27,012 entities in the private sector last year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor revealed the average employment rate (compared to number of full-time workers) for individuals with disabilities was 2.61 percent, and that this figure declined among employers with larger workforces. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 16 (Korea Bizwire) — After inspecting 27,012 entities in the private sector last year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor revealed the average employment rate (compared to number of full-time workers) for individuals with disabilities was 2.61 percent, and that this figure declined among employers with larger workforces.
While employers with 100 to 299 workers had an employment rate of 3.04 percent, those with 1,000 or more recorded a lower 2.24 percent. Major corporations with at least 10 trillion won in total assets were found to be employing 2.04 percent.
The same pattern of more meaning less was observed when looking at employers abiding by legal hiring quotas for the disabled. Around half of companies with 100 to 299 workers, and 2 out 10 corporations with 1,000 workers or with a minimum of 10 trillion won in total assets were employing disabled workers in sufficient numbers.
Overall, South Korea’s disabled employed figures in the public and private sectors are increasing, up by 0.25 percentage points from 2013 to land at 2.73 percent last year. However, this encouraging statistic still falls short of corresponding figures of fellow developed nations like France, where 5.3 percent and 3.3 percent of the respective public and private sector workforces were comprised of the disabled.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor also found that the disabled earn 1.78 million in average monthly wages to the 2.42 million won monthly average salary of all workers. Of the disabled, women earned 1.12 million won to men’s 2.02 million won, and the more “severely disabled” took home about 700,000 won less than those with comparatively minor disabilities.
The government introduced legal measures in 1991 requiring the employment of a certain percentage of the workforce to be comprised of individuals with disabilities for central and local governments as well as public and private institutions with 50 or more full-time employees. (Image: Yonhap)
Severely disabled individuals refer to those who are determined as having disabilities with grades 1 through 3 set out by law. Blindness, autism, epilepsy are some conditions classified as grade 3.
The government introduced legal measures in 1991 requiring the employment of a certain percentage of the workforce to be comprised of individuals with disabilities for central and local governments as well as public and private institutions with 50 or more full-time employees.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
