The Revised ‘Prohibition of Sexual Discrimination Law’ Is Put in Operation Today

The Government prepared a strengthened ‘Prohibition of Sexual Discrimination Standard’ facing the regular job search season to stop the sexual discrimination, which had been done habitually, through hiring processes of different companies.

The Ministry of Women stated on the 3rd that in order to stop the sexual discrimination at open recruitment and regular hiring, it would reform the ‘Enforcement Regulations for the Prohibition of Sexual Discrimination and Relief Law,” and put it on operation on the 4th. This regulation will be enforced to private companies as well as public offices.

According to the Prohibition of Sexual Discrimination Standard included in the revised enforcement regulations, in various hiring tests, questions, which require unfair treatment to a particular sex, like ‘will you work even after you got married,’ and ‘will you serve coffee’ will be considered sexual discrimination and prohibited.

And it prohibits to recognize ‘the Military Service Advantage,’ of people who got exempted from military service and people who has not yet completed their military duties, and although a person finished his military duty, it forces to recognize only the actual service period, so it prohibits to give excessive advantages.

This means that the law will no longer allow the habitual practice such as the case that a University in Seoul, during its hiring process, clearly discriminated sexes by recognizing basically 3 years as a career for people who had completed their military duties and adding additional career on top of it.

This regulation also prohibits restricting any sex and setting marital status as a qualification, and it forbids using titles that indicate any sex or giving advantages to a particular sex like ‘female secretary wanted,’ ‘male technician wanted,’ or ‘male preferred.’

It also prohibits managing separate hiring tests for each sex, setting different qualifications, and posting difficult condition for a particular sex like ‘170cm or taller,’ and it forbids always giving particular tasks although making circular employment as the rule.

If a particular public office or private company violates the Prohibition of Sexual Discrimination Standard like this, a candidate can file a protest, and the Ministry of Women opens the Sexual Discrimination Improvement Committee and orders a correction advice if it judges the company violated the Standard.

If the particular company does not correct the problem regardless of the correction advice of the Ministry of Women, the candidate can file a civil law suit. The Ministry of Women, to raise the effect of correction, is already filed a revision proposal of the law to the Congress to strengthening the ‘correction advice’ to the ‘correction order.’

An officer of the Ministry of Women said, “This revision of the enforcement regulations strengthens the prohibition of sexual discrimination, which is being partly accepted in private companies, and is expanded to public offices,” and “To prohibit sexual discrimination will be a chance to raise the competitive power for all people.”

Jin Lee leej@donga.com