종업원대표제 재구축의 필요성과 기본 방향

This study begins from the awareness that the collective determination system for working conditions has been stretched to its limits and that some corrective measures should be taken. Union organization rates have been declining, diminishing the scope of the collective bargaining system. On the other hand, the increased flexibility of the labor market has diversified the employment types available, creating different worker groups with different interests within the same company or workplace. In addition, as the HR system is adjusted to place more emphasis on performance, even workers in the same type of employment have different working conditions. As workers become more and more individualized in the labor market and even within the same workplace, questions arise as to how effective the existing unions led by standard workers in large companies are coordinating or representing the diversifying interests of the worker groups. If the unions who are at the center of the collective determination system are not fully effective in defining the working conditions and setting the norms, an alternative may be found in the employee representation system. It is within this context that this study reviews the issues regarding the current employee representation system and analyzes how it can be adjusted or rebuilt for the better. It also presents some basic directions for related legislation.