MIGRANT workers' groups in South Korea say the recent Constitutional Court ruling in favour of the government restriction on foreign workers changing workplaces is against international human rights norms.
According to a Korea Times report, they said it goes against efforts to abolish racial discrimination and ban forced labour in the country.
The court had last week announced a 7-2 judgment against the petition by five migrant workers filed in March 2020, which claimed that restriction on changing workplaces infringes on migrant workers' freedom to human dignity and the pursuit of happiness.
Under South Korean labour law, migrant workers under the employment permit system (EPS) cannot change workplaces for almost five years.
They are only allowed to do so such as when the employer terminates them or closes the business, or when the employer treats the employee unfairly such as sexual abuse.
They are limited to changing jobs no more than three times under the system.
For other causes, migrant workers wanting to change workplaces need to get approval from the previous employer or prove they are not responsible for the conditions under which they would seek to change jobs.
Migrant rights groups said this rule has made it difficult for the workers to change workplaces despite various forms of abuse and unfair treatment, virtually treating them as "forced labour."
In its ruling, the court said the law does not infringe on migrant workers' basic rights.
It said the system was adopted to relieve employee shortages in industries having difficulty securing workers, and if they are allowed to seek new employers, it could leave industries more vulnerable to worker shortages.
"Granting foreign workers the freedom to change workplaces could present difficulties to employers in running their businesses and securing enough workers," the court said.
"Foreign workers have come to South Korea due to employers' needs, thus there should be a legal restriction on their ability to change workplaces."
The Times said migrant groups and human rights lawyers who filed the petition criticised the ruling, saying it did not consider migrant workers' poor working conditions and denies the nation's constitutional values.
"The court ruling means that foreign workers should endure long hours of restless forced labour and low wages, discrimination and exploitation," the groups said in an official statement.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions also said the ruling justifies violence and racial discrimination and claims for legitimacy of forced labour.
"It is almost impossible for migrant workers to collect and submit evidence of sexual assault, violence and discrimination they experience and file to change workplaces. "The language barrier makes it even more difficult for them to file their cases to the police," Song Eun-jung, head of the Hope Center for Migrant Workers, a human rights group that supported the petition, told The Times.
"Most migrant workers wish to maintain stable jobs during their stay. Those who file for changing workplaces have no other option because their current working conditions are harsh and unbearable," Song explained.
"The fact that they are not given the right to change workplaces leads to more exploitation and human rights violations by employers."
Since the EPS was enacted in 2004, it has been criticised for infringing on human rights and falling short of international standards on labour conditions by international organisations including the International Labour Organisation and Amnesty International.
The Korea Labour Institute, a governmental research institute on labor issues, also advised lifting limitations on the frequency and conditions in which migrant workers can seek new jobs in its report published in August 2020.