South Chungcheong labor commission recognized hospital's substantial control over safety, work conditions and staffing

Hospital rebuffs ruling, says it is only a contractor, not an employer, as attention turns to National Labor Relations Commission

Unrelated to the article [The Herald Business DB]
Unrelated to the article [The Herald Business DB]

The National Labor Relations Commission will hold a retrial on Thursday. At issue is whether Eulji University Hospital in Daejeon can be considered the actual employer responsible for the industrial safety, working conditions and staffing of subcontracted workers such as cleaners and security guards. A regional labor commission earlier ruled that the hospital holds substantial decision-making power over these matters, but the hospital contends it is merely a contracting party, not an employer.

According to labor sources, the commission will review the case Thursday. The case stems from a request filed by the Daejeon Eulji University Hospital Saebom Branch of the Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union against the Eulji Educational Foundation. The union sought correction of the hospital's failure to announce that it had received a bargaining request.

Subcontracted workers at Daejeon Eulji University Hospital handle cleaning, facility management, parking and vehicle management, funeral hall operations, and security. They demanded that the hospital negotiate directly with them on industrial safety, working conditions, benefits and staffing.

When the hospital did not announce that it had received the bargaining request, the union filed for correction with the South Chungcheong Regional Labor Commission. On July 16, the commission accepted the union's request, ruling that the hospital holds employer status over subcontracted workers with regard to the bargaining agenda. The hospital appealed the ruling to the National Labor Relations Commission for a retrial.

The regional commission found that the hospital owns and manages the workplaces and key facilities and equipment used by the subcontracted workers. It also found that the hospital exercises substantive authority over changes in staffing and deployment. Based on this, the commission determined that the hospital could be recognized as the bargaining counterpart for working conditions such as industrial safety, work environment and staffing.

Cleaning workers handle not only indoor cleaning but also disposal of disposable medical device waste and food waste, along with cleaning of exterior walls and windows. Funeral hall workers handle ceremonial duties such as body enshrinement and consultations, as well as management of hospital-owned vehicles and parking lots.

Security workers' contracts specify that they must protect medical staff in the emergency room and respond to disturbances by patients in the psychiatric and stabilization wards. Given the hospital's round-the-clock operation, workers are assigned to afternoon and night shifts, and daily reports on their duties are required.

The union demanded that the hospital establish an industrial safety and health committee that includes subcontracted workers. The union also sought negotiations on providing protective gear, expanding rest facilities and paying overtime allowances. It also called for assigning at least two workers to hazardous tasks, citing an incident in which a subcontracted cleaning worker was injured after slipping while waxing a floor alone.

The union said the hospital rejected its request to install shower facilities for cleaning staff, forcing them to use makeshift facilities next to a restroom. It added that even minor facility changes, such as driving a nail into a break room wall, require the hospital's approval. This makes it difficult to improve working conditions through bargaining with the subcontractor alone.

The hospital rebuffed the ruling, saying it is only a contracting party that signed a service agreement with the subcontractor, not an employer of the subcontracted workers. It argued that establishing a separate industrial safety and health committee involving subcontracted workers exceeds its legal obligations. It also said providing a break room amounts to a lease or convenience rather than a welfare benefit provided by an employer.

The National Labor Relations Commission will hear arguments from both the union and the hospital again Thursday. It will then determine whether the hospital is obligated to announce that it received the union's bargaining request. The retrial's outcome is expected to serve as a benchmark case for how far a primary contractor's bargaining responsibility extends over the safety and working conditions of subcontracted workers.


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