중소기업 고용노사관계 실태와 문제점

Currently, in 2011, the 99% of Korean industries is comprised of small and medium enterprises and their employees represent about 87% of the whole employed population. This implies that the small and medium-sized firm is a substantial part of both the industries and labor market in Korea. Accordingly, understanding employment and labor-management relations of small and medium enterprises is a prerequisite to discuss common nationwide employment issues. Nevertheless, such discussion has been focused on the conglomerates, overlooking on-going employment issues and labor-management relations in small and medium enterprises. Under this circumstance, it would be very meaningful to examine current status of small and medium enterprises and consider the controversial issues of both employment and labor-management relations in them. One of the chronic problems, which resulted in the current issues of both employment and labor-management relations in small and medium enterprises, is a shortage of human resource. This shortage is derived from the different employment conditions between the conglomerates and small and medium enterprises. The disparity eventually created a vicious cycle by weakening the competitive power of the small and medium enterprises. Therefore, it is fair to say that the key solution of current employment problems is to equalize the employment conditions between the conglomerates and small and medium enterprises. Another reasons for issues of both employment and labor-management relations in small and medium enterprises are its size and lack of professionalism in the management of human resources. Because of those two factors, there is a high possibility of legal conflicts surrounding employment conditions. In the past, labor disputes were mainly concerned as an issue of the conglomerates. However, the number of labor disputes in small and medium enterprises has been steadily increased as well. Accordingly, administrative support such as reorganizing the current legislative system or providing consultative/educational opportunities for small and medium enterprises is required to encourage them to comply with the Labor Standards Act effectively.