농업 부문 외국인여성근로자의 생활안전과 주거권 보장

Abstract

In Korea, the demand for foreign manpower is expected to continually increase due to the rapid decrease in the productive population on account of the demographic pressures of low birth rates, super-ageing society, and entry into a highly-educated society. In other words, the dependence on foreign manpower may increase rapidly, especially in labor-intensive industries, which in terms of labor legislation may lead to an intensification of issues related to the guarantee of labor rights and human rights. The labor law issues raised in relation to foreign employees mainly focused on labor standards and violations of labor and human rights arising from poor working and living conditions. However, existing labor law issues related to foreign workers have focused on the employment permit system, compliance with labor standards such as wages and working hours, and recognition of their three labor rights. On the other hand, discussions related to the guarantee of rights in terms of residential facilities and living environment have been emphasized in recent years. And at the center of these discussions is the issue of guaranteeing the ‘right to housing’ of foreign employees. For foreign employees who mainly live in lodgings located in workplaces provided by employers, the workplace becomes a residential facility, and therefore safety, health rights, and life safety at work become directly related to housing rights. This paper focuses attention on guaranteeing the housing rights and living safety rights of foreign female workers in the agricultural sector, as they tend to be more vulnerable. In particular, the actual conditions related to living and housing rights in the <2021 Ministry of Employment and Labor Survey> were reconstructed to analyze such issues, focusing on foreign female employees in accordance with the 「Act on Foreign Workers’ Employment, etc.」 in the agricultural sector, where housing conditions are poor. By examining the meaning and current status of legal regulations, this paper presents related legal and policy discourses that should be considered to guarantee the life safety and housing rights of these workers in the future.