Employment Ministry bans sex discrimination expressions in hiring

Employment Ministry bans sex discrimination expressions in hiring. November. 04, 2015 07:50. ryu@donga.com.

“Can’t apply if you’re height is less than 162 centimeters,” “We are looking for a pretty part timer worker,” “Only unmarried or male can apply.”

When hiring a worker, these expressions or making terms profitable to certain gender will be subject to sexual discrimination and thus face sanctions.

The Employment and Labor Ministry said Tuesday it would send written recommendations aimed to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination to 2,286 large companies and 82 franchise companies. According to the recommendations, sex discrimination refers to when the hire ad excludes female or includes only female, when an organization hires male and female workers separately, or has different numbers of male and female hires. Key example is when an ad allows application of just people who have finished military service, or accepts just men applicants. The ministry also explained that expressions like “We welcome men” or “We welcome women” are also an act of sex discrimination.

It is also considered sexual discrimination to ask women whether they will continue working after marriage or to apply pass criterion differently between genders. Such acts, when found, will be subject to corrective order or will be taken to legal action. Yet, for jobs like soprano singer or model for men’s suits where only a certain gender can carry out the job, there will be exceptions to this rule for hiring certain genders. It is also possible to hire just men in positions that don’t allow female workers according to the labor standard law.