The Korean government on Monday abolished two controversial labor guidelines, which had made it easier for employers to dismiss workers and unilaterally change working conditions, in a bid to help resume dialogue between employers, workers and the government. 

“In the process of adopting the two guidelines, (the government) did not sufficiently consult with labor and management, and there was no social consensus,” Labor Minister Kim Young-joo said during a meeting with the chiefs of state-run agencies under the ministry. “We expect it to open the way for social dialogue.”

The administrative guidelines made it possible for firms to fire underperforming workers and change company rules -- for example, on income and personnel management -- without workers’ approval. They were introduced in January last year under the former Park Geun-hye administration as part of a policy drive to make the labor market more flexible.

Although the guidelines were not legally binding, the nation’s two umbrella labor unions -- the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and Korean Confederation of Trade Unions -- denounced the guidelines for only benefitting employers and undermining job security for workers.

In protest, the FKTU walked out of a negotiating body comprising representatives from workers, businesses and the government, sending the three-way dialogue into a deadlock for more than one year and eight months. The more hard-line KCTU quit the trilateral committee in 1999.

Scrapping the guidelines had been one of the FKTU’s demands to return to the trilateral negotiating body.

The decision by the Ministry of Employment and Labor comes in line with President Moon Jae-in’s election pledge to improve labor conditions and scrap the disputed guidelines that he said were against the nation’s labor union law.

The labor unions welcomed the decision, but were cautious over whether to return to the trilateral committee.

“It is a minimal measure to restore trust between labor and government,” the FKTU said in a statement. “We hope that it offers a chance to resume the dialogue among labor, management and government.”

The KCTU said that discarding the guidelines should lead to a complete overhaul of the labor law, which they say has undermined workers’ rights.

“We hope that it would be the first step to normalize abnormal labor policies,” the group said.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)