EPS News Advisory: Foreign workers and their employers mark 7th anniversary of Employment Permit System

A kind word, a refreshing drink of water or a helping hand you says, offers or extends to other people moves their hearts and remains in their memories regardless of whether they are Korean or foreign workers.

Lee Hyung-sun (aged 56, a worker at KECP Co. Ltd.) who received an award in an essay-writing contest on foreign workers last winter says, "Foreign workers are not strangers but collaborators who came to help us."
At first they were strangers, but now they are more than neighbors to her.
Ms. Lee boasts that as she talked open-mindedly with her 11 philippine workers and solved their difficulties, they became indispensible members of her company.

An employer hiring foreign workers needs belief.
Lee Byung-heung, the vice president of Myungwon Tech Co. Ltd., realized through his experience that having a prejudice against foreign workers is of no help to both sides.
Last year, its production line stopped because of a failure in an automated welding machine. The production manager, the quality-control manager and even the team leader in charge of that process could not find the cause. And it would have taken more than two weeks to replace the existing machine with a new one due to the importing firm's bankruptcy.
At that moment, Dodik (aged 34), an Indonesian worker, came forward, saying, "Let me try to fix it." Vice President Mr. Lee decided to trust Dodik's confidence although there was a risk that he could break it more.
However, Dodik succeeded in repairing the broken machine after grappling with it all night alone. Later he got promoted to a production team leader. Foreign workers on Dodik's team have changed into happy smiling persons.
It was a valuable experience that led to higher productivity and a considerably reduced defect rate.

What do foreign workers need most in Korea?
The most difficult and necessary thing for them to learn is the Korean language.
Namdak (aged 33), a Mongolian worker in Hwayang Prastic Co. Ltd., suffered long from illness after entering Korea because Korean culture and food did not agree with him. When he went to a hospital, he was unable to speak where it hurt, and instead had to communicate using his hand gestures.
Namdak has since made a lot of efforts to learn Korean, so now he can speak Korean fluently.
He is taking a cooking class on holidays, which is provided as part of the Returnee Support Program, to acquire the relevant qualification. He wishes to set up a Korean restaurant in Mongolia after going back, and help Mongolian people to have healthy food and live long, because Mongolian people do not live long because they eat fatty food, such as lamb, and have no diverse cooking culture.

The Returnee Support Program is a program aimed at preventing foreign workers from staying illegally in Korea after their sojourn period has expired. Under the Program, the HRD Korea (President Song Young-jung) helps foreign workers to be reemployed by Korean firms operating in their home countries.
The Program is run in a way to encourage foreign workers' voluntary return to their countries. For example, skill-based business start-up training is provided for those due to return to their countries.

August 17 marked the seventh year since the Employment Permit System was launched.
At the evaluation forum held at the Baekbeom Memorial Hall last week to mark the 7th anniversary of the Employment Permit System, Song Young-jung, President of HRD Korea, emphasized the roles of the Employment Permit System in achieving shared growth for both foreign workers and their employers, and its development.
On that day, Yu Gil-sang, a professor of Korea University of Technology and Education, gave a presentation under the theme of "The Employment Permit System into the 7th Year : Achievements and Challenges". During his presentation, he said, "The process of introducing foreign workers became transparent, and remarkable progress was made in reducing discrimination between Korean and foreign workers." He also said, "The System should be further developed in a way to protect employment opportunities for Korean workers, raise productivity at SMEs and minimize the related social costs."

Meanwhile, HRD Korea is fully responsible for selecting foreign workers under the Employment Permit System, preparing and managing the list of foreign job seekers, making employment contracts on behalf of foreign workers, and assisting foreign workers with their entry and departure.
Last June, HRD Korea became the first public institution in Korea to win the UN Public Service Award under the category "preventing and combating corruption in the public service". It was selected as the UNPSA first-place winner for the transparent and fair operation of the system relating to the introduction of foreign workers.

Now 1,400,000 foreign workers are living in Korea.
Foreign workers are establishing themselves not as strangers but as neighbors who are mixed up with us and assimilate into Korean society.

http://www.moel.go.kr/english/topic/employment_policy_view.jsp?&idx=838



Courtesy of Gennie Kim, Adviser- Sulyapinoy Online Forum

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