Jeonbuk Provincial Council holds debate on enactment of ordinance to support prevention of non-payment of wages

(Jeonju=Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Chae-doo = Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Provincial Council Member Yoo Song-yeol (Muju) held a forum at the provincial council on the 11th to "realize zero unpaid wages and enact an ordinance to support wage arrearage prevention."

The forum was arranged to establish a wage arrearage prevention system tailored to the conditions of Jeonbuk ahead of the enforcement of the "Act on the Performance of Duties by Labor Inspectors," which allows delegating part of the labor inspection authority over workplaces with fewer than 30 full-time employees to provincial governors and mayors.

Councilor Yoo served as the chair, while Chae Jun-ho, a professor at Jeonbuk National University, and Lee Jong-soo, a visiting research fellow at the Korea Labor & Society Institute, presented on the topic.

Won Dong-young, a labor inspector at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Yoo Hee-sook, director of the provincial Corporate Attraction Support Bureau, and Park In-soo, senior vice chair of the Jeonbuk headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, also participated in the discussion.

They agreed that wage arrearage response policies should shift from post-facto resolution to prevention.

They also mentioned the need to build and design a system centered on local governments conducting investigations into wage arrearage conditions, providing education, collaborating with related organizations, and offering reporting and legal support for victimized workers.

According to Councilor Yoo, the amount of unpaid wages in the province as of last year reached approximately 64.4 billion won, an increase of 24.7% from the previous year.

He stated, "I will supplement the opinions presented at today's forum and introduce the ordinance proposal during the upcoming provincial council extraordinary session in October."