South Korea Restricts Private-Sector Hiring Based on Bribes, Personal Bias 

A law (Korean) that aims to reduce bribery and personal bias in hiring took effect in South Korea on 17 Jul 2019. The Revised Recruitment Procedure Act applies to private-sector companies with 30 or more employees and follows similar 2017 measures for the public sector.

Highlights

• Employers can’t accept bribes from applicants or coerce them into offering gifts.
• Employers can’t ask for or collect an applicant’s personal information irrelevant to the job, including the applicant’s height, weight, appearance, hometown, assets and marital status. However, employers may ask applicants to confirm their current residence and school and to provide an ID-style photograph to verify their identity.
• Sanctions between KRW 5 million to 30 million could be levied for breaches of the act.

Related Resources

• Revised Recruitment Procedure Act (Korean) (Ministry of Employment and Labor, 16 Jul 2019)