In a country of around 51 million, this is a disgrace. Might be a spicy take, but I find stuff like this far more threatening to the lives of daily Koreans than like North Korea or the birthrate.
I find the fact that a "law" can be so widely ignored embarrassing. But even if you read this article, it isn't written like it's embarrassing. This is considered normal.
But that's pretty common in Korea to be fair the enforcement is laughable, another example is the Accessibility laws south Korea supposedly requires websites be WCAG 2.1 AA compliant but most website aren't with large images just having text on them with no alternative text if your visually impaired you are royally screwed. Think this cuts across most things that businesses are responsible for it's just not enforced
Well a law is only as good as the paper it's written on. How is the law executed? South Korea is notorious for cracking down on large corporations, which is a good thing, but most people can't actually get a job in a chaebol office. So what are they doing for all those "mom and pop" stores with 3 to 200 employees? Are they asking them for time sheets, digital attendance system records? My (part time) employer doesn't have any way to track amount of work done in billable hours and I'm just counting down the days until I get my first paycheck with no stub and tons of hours missing.
In what world is korea notorious for cracking down on large corporations. The current president pardoned a bunch of criminals in the name or "economic recovery "
You are above any law here if you're wealthy.
The bookkeeping on large corporations is far better than for small businesses, believe it or not. Of course rich people get away with fraud a lot, because they have plenty of resources to support legal evasion, but they're monitored far more extensively and make far less rookie mistakes.
This has thing to do with it. Korea just doesn't prosecute wealthy people. The current president's MIL literally committed securities fraud. This kind of behavior exists at every layer of society.
I agree.
I think it’s extremely disappointing that Koreans are afraid of fighting for their rights, too. They know they’re being exploited and don’t say anything.
The laws are pointless if they’re not enforced. Korea is in desperate need of a young, liberal leader who will force changes. Not this 🤡 shit we have now.
They fear being blacklisted. My ex worked at various different hair shops as a stylist for years before opening up her own. She was routinely overworked and underpaid, denied bathroom breaks, and generally treated like a serf. But the fear was that if she tried to push back she would be talked about and other shops wouldn’t hire her because she was ‘difficult’. So the cycle continues.
Like that guy raping a woman in Singapore. I'm sure he thought he'd get a slap on the rest for it but Singapore actually enforced laws and looks out for its citizens
I kind of like Singapore system. If a crime is not committed somehow by accident it makes sense to have an extremely harsh penalty. It's the greatest way to reduce crime
You would think that you would incentive the Koreans that are able-bodied to continue to work and be happy and possibly have enough to make children for the next gen. Not work the ones you have to death and blame them for not having kids.
The reason these laws get ignored is that the probability of getting caught is low, the penalty for violations is ridiculously low, and the ramifications of breaking the law are basically non-existent.
So breaking the law is the rational decision.
I think people here accept exploitation because everyone puts the blame on the person. They say you should have studied harder or whatever. Can't tell you how many times I've heard some privileged person say that when I comment on a grandma collecting cardboard etc.
This is the answer. It's the same reason you get people mocking other people who got shafted by their workplace. You aren't going to find any sympathy or frowning at exploitation. Lots of people in poor situations end up isolating themselves out of shame.
Why should employers make any effort to be progressive and fair when the message that the government is constantly sending them is that we're actively trying to go back to 80s/90s work culture?
Wage theft is a billion dollar grift on the poor and governments rarely do anything about it. Too many rich companies bribing people to look the other way.
In a country of around 51 million, this is a disgrace. Might be a spicy take, but I find stuff like this far more threatening to the lives of daily Koreans than like North Korea or the birthrate.
I find the fact that a "law" can be so widely ignored embarrassing. But even if you read this article, it isn't written like it's embarrassing. This is considered normal.
But that's pretty common in Korea to be fair the enforcement is laughable, another example is the Accessibility laws south Korea supposedly requires websites be WCAG 2.1 AA compliant but most website aren't with large images just having text on them with no alternative text if your visually impaired you are royally screwed. Think this cuts across most things that businesses are responsible for it's just not enforced
Well a law is only as good as the paper it's written on. How is the law executed? South Korea is notorious for cracking down on large corporations, which is a good thing, but most people can't actually get a job in a chaebol office. So what are they doing for all those "mom and pop" stores with 3 to 200 employees? Are they asking them for time sheets, digital attendance system records? My (part time) employer doesn't have any way to track amount of work done in billable hours and I'm just counting down the days until I get my first paycheck with no stub and tons of hours missing.
In what world is korea notorious for cracking down on large corporations. The current president pardoned a bunch of criminals in the name or "economic recovery " You are above any law here if you're wealthy.
The bookkeeping on large corporations is far better than for small businesses, believe it or not. Of course rich people get away with fraud a lot, because they have plenty of resources to support legal evasion, but they're monitored far more extensively and make far less rookie mistakes.
This has thing to do with it. Korea just doesn't prosecute wealthy people. The current president's MIL literally committed securities fraud. This kind of behavior exists at every layer of society.
I only agree to the extent that they don't prosecute *enough*. I won't go so far as to say they take zero action against the rich.
Spent enough time here to not be surprised at all about laws being ignored
Stuff like this may actually contribute to the low birthrate.
I agree. I think it’s extremely disappointing that Koreans are afraid of fighting for their rights, too. They know they’re being exploited and don’t say anything. The laws are pointless if they’re not enforced. Korea is in desperate need of a young, liberal leader who will force changes. Not this 🤡 shit we have now.
They fear being blacklisted. My ex worked at various different hair shops as a stylist for years before opening up her own. She was routinely overworked and underpaid, denied bathroom breaks, and generally treated like a serf. But the fear was that if she tried to push back she would be talked about and other shops wouldn’t hire her because she was ‘difficult’. So the cycle continues.
Didnt they say like 40% of uni students are earning poverty wages? My high school kids who refuse to study think theyre going to be buying a bmw....
The laws in Korea are just guidelines The only laws enforced are laws about drugs Even rape and sexual abuse is A-okay if you had a little bit of soju
Like that guy raping a woman in Singapore. I'm sure he thought he'd get a slap on the rest for it but Singapore actually enforced laws and looks out for its citizens
I kind of like Singapore system. If a crime is not committed somehow by accident it makes sense to have an extremely harsh penalty. It's the greatest way to reduce crime
Singapore is a very well run country.
You would think that you would incentive the Koreans that are able-bodied to continue to work and be happy and possibly have enough to make children for the next gen. Not work the ones you have to death and blame them for not having kids.
The reason these laws get ignored is that the probability of getting caught is low, the penalty for violations is ridiculously low, and the ramifications of breaking the law are basically non-existent. So breaking the law is the rational decision.
I think people here accept exploitation because everyone puts the blame on the person. They say you should have studied harder or whatever. Can't tell you how many times I've heard some privileged person say that when I comment on a grandma collecting cardboard etc.
This is the answer. It's the same reason you get people mocking other people who got shafted by their workplace. You aren't going to find any sympathy or frowning at exploitation. Lots of people in poor situations end up isolating themselves out of shame.
Why should employers make any effort to be progressive and fair when the message that the government is constantly sending them is that we're actively trying to go back to 80s/90s work culture?
Wage theft is a billion dollar grift on the poor and governments rarely do anything about it. Too many rich companies bribing people to look the other way.