Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon speaks at an awards ceremony honoring outstanding labor inspectors at the Jeon Tae-il Memorial Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on April 29. [Ministry of Employment and Labor]
Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon speaks at an awards ceremony honoring outstanding labor inspectors at the Jeon Tae-il Memorial Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on April 29. [Ministry of Employment and Labor]

The Ministry of Employment and Labor is launching a mobile labor law education program for small business owners across South Chungcheong Province, in partnership with the provincial government and the Korea Employment and Labor Education Institute, ahead of the planned transfer of labor inspection authority to local governments.

The initiative aims to help small businesses comply with basic labor laws — including drafting employment contracts and paying wages correctly — to prevent violations and support a smooth transition to a decentralized labor inspection system.

The ministry announced Wednesday that it will tour all 15 cities and counties in South Chungcheong Province through November, offering "basic labor order education and consulting" to owners of small workplaces with fewer than 30 employees, such as restaurants, barbershops and hair salons. The program is being jointly run by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, South Chungcheong Province and the Korea Employment and Labor Education Institute.

The project is designed to strengthen labor management capacity at small workplaces. Such businesses have long struggled with a shortage of human resources professionals and limited understanding of labor law, leading to persistent violations including failure to draw up employment contracts and non-payment of various allowances.

The education drive also serves as advance preparation for an expansion of local governments' labor inspection authority under the Labor Inspector Duties Execution Act, which takes effect in December.

The ministry and South Chungcheong Province set up a joint regional labor inspection council in April to build a cooperative framework, which formed the basis for planning the tour. The Korea Employment and Labor Education Institute is providing instructors and teaching materials, while the provincial government is responsible for recruiting participating workplaces.

Sessions will cover local labor inspection operation plans alongside education on basic labor order — including employment contract procedures and wage payment — as well as self-diagnostic consulting. The tour began with sessions in Gongju on July 10 and Boryeong on July 13, and will continue through November across all 15 cities and counties in South Chungcheong Province, including Asan on Thursday.

Deputy Minister Kwon Chang-jun said the tour was "a model case in which the central government, local governments and public institutions broke down barriers and built a field-based foundation together ahead of the devolution of labor inspection authority." He added that the ministry would "work as one team with local governments and related agencies to build a tight labor safety net, so that no small business owner ends up breaking the law simply out of ignorance."

Gu Sang, director of the industrial economy division at South Chungcheong Province, said the province would "strengthen cooperation with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, including expanding labor law education for small business owners with fewer than 30 employees, to support the stable establishment of the local labor inspector system."


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