The presidential office said on the 28th that instead of issuing a presidential decree on the scope of labor disputes under the Yellow Envelope Law, an amendment to the Trade Union Act, it will draw up administrative guidelines. President Lee Jae-myung had twice instructed officials to "review subordinate legislation such as presidential decrees or enforcement rules." But the Ministry of Employment and Labor balked, saying the parent statute contains no delegating provision, and the government appears to have accepted that view. Officials believe guidelines, which take effect immediately, can reduce confusion on the ground. Because they carry no legal force, however, disputes between labor and management over what counts as a bargaining issue are likely to continue.
The Yellow Envelope Law sharply widened the scope of labor disputes from wages, working hours, welfare and dismissals to "management decisions that affect working conditions." The problem is that there is no clear legal standard defining that scope. The ambiguity is what allowed the Samsung Electronics union to demand a performance bonus set at a fixed percentage and to argue that the company's semiconductor cluster investment in the Honam region was also subject to bargaining. The labor ministry has said decisions on building new plants and making investments are not subject to labor disputes, but unions may still take industrial action on the grounds that working conditions are changing. That means even the government's three mega-projects could be held up by the law.
Disputes between prime contractors and subcontractor unions over who qualifies as an employer are surging, with about 560 related cases now filed with the Labor Relations Commission. Large companies including Hanwha Ocean are refusing to accept rulings that recognize them as employers and are moving into full-scale litigation. Legal standards are urgently needed, but designating the scope of disputes through a presidential decree could raise questions of illegality and overreach, because the Yellow Envelope Law itself contains no explicit delegating clause. The new guidelines are likely to be no more than a stopgap. Without legal force, they could draw objections from both labor and management, prolonging legal battles and deepening damage at industrial sites.
Guidelines may be necessary for now, but the fundamental solution is to move quickly on supplementary legislation. The law should be amended to guarantee workers' bargaining rights while tightening the definition of who counts as an employer and protecting managerial judgment. Otherwise the law will end up fueling labor-management conflict. The government and the National Assembly should stop hiding behind guidelines and begin refining the Yellow Envelope Law itself without delay. Only then can Korea strike a balance between protecting labor rights and safeguarding management authority, and build predictable labor relations.
