‘동일노동 동일임금’을 위한 직무급의 도입과 법적 과제

Abstract

Discrimination against non-regular workers is one of the major causes of social conflicts that still exist in the Republic of Korea, and the establishment of solutions to them is an urgent challenge for the authorities. How to convert non-regular workers to regular or unlimited-contract workers has been continuously discussed to resolve the discrimination problem. As a result, a significant number of non-regular workers have been converted to unlimited-contract workers. However, the working conditions of unlimited-contract workers are not only the same as those of non-regular workers but also worse, except that there is no fixed working period. It is because unlimited-contract workers are not protected by law for non-regular workers. Legislation of equal pay for equal work principle has been continually raised as a way to correct the poor working conditions of unlimited-contract workers. And the need for the current wage system reform, which is a prerequisite for the actualization of the principle, is also increasing. Since enforcement of the law on the protection of non-regular workers, job classification wage has been regarded as the best wage system in line with the equal pay for equal work principle. However, it will take a long time before the institution of the job classification wage. It is because job classification and evaluation measures for the system are uncertain. The job classification wage not only corrects discrimination according to the form of employment but can also be a solution to employment problems due to the authorities’ low growth and aging population. There is also a view that the job classification wage is necessary for the work forms that appear since COVID-19, such as telecommuting. Considering the cases of foreign countries where the job classification wage has become more common, authorities can feel the need to change its wage system and find ways to reform it to meet the current situation. And clear criteria for job classification and evaluation should be presented before the implementation of the job classification wage. Also, education and training by the job will have to be arranged as a system. Besides, a system like Änderungskündigung in Germany should be in place to ensure the continuation of working relations even if working conditions have been changed to prevent job insecurity resulting from job extinction.