The Dispatched Workers Act Article 5(1) and its related Enforcement Decree Article 2(1) and Appendix 1 restrict the types of work that a company can retain dispatched workers. Additionally, dispatched workers must be procured from a dispatched service company that has obtained the proper authority from the Minister of Labor and Employment (Article 7(1~3).
If a company retains dispatched workers for types that is permitted under the Act, or procures such dispatched workers form an unauthorized service company, the company can be subject to imprisonment of less than 3 years or a penalty of less than KRW 30,000,000 along with the unauthorized agency.
The client inquired whether it could procure dispatched workers from a third party for a specific area of the company’s work for efficiency, and D’LIGHT Law Group advised the client about the high risk posed because the specific types of work were not the type that the client could retain dispatched workers and that the company providing the contemplated dispatched workers was not authorized.
Companies contemplating dispatched workers are usually in an industry where there is a flexible employment pool that allows ease of manpower replacement. These industries, however, are unlikely to engage in types of work that the act allows the use of dispatched workers. As such, it is imperative for companies that consider dispatched worker services to assess the legal risks.
