1 in 3 large companies has 'hereditary employment' rule

Eleven out of the 30 leading South Korean large companies have the so-called ‘hereditary employment’ provision in a collective agreement between labor and management, in which a company must preferentially hire children of union members, an analysis showed.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on Wednesday that, according to an analysis of collective agreements of top 30 companies with a union whose revenue exceed 10 trillion won ($9.1 billion) annually, as many as 11 companies, or 36.7 percent, have a rule prescribing that they must preferentially hire immediate family members of union members, retirees and the long-term employed, such as children and a spouse.

The surveyed companies are 18 manufacturers, five financial companies, four transportation and communications companies and three retailers. The 11 companies are: GS Caltex, SK Innovation, Kia Motors, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Oilbank, LG Chem, GM Korea, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, SK Hynix, Hyundai Steel Company and LG Uplus.

The preferential hiring violates the constitutional equal rights and freedom of occupation for those other than children of union members and goes against a principle of equal treatment under a framework act on employment policy and an employment security law. However, hiring family members of employees who suffer work-related accidents is an exception.

Lim Moo-song, an official of the ministry, stressed, “labor and management alike should take social responsibility for fixing irregularities that hamper fair competition, such as the hereditary employment,”

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