Anti-Discrimination Law Passed

The historic 'Gender Discrimination Prohibition Act' passed through the National Assembly on December 24.
It will influence Korean society on the whole, ranging from the government and public sector to the business world.
Up to now, among most public and private institutions women had been subject to discrimination with no concrete regulations to protect them.
There were rules that fell under the 'Male-female Employment Equality Act' which only dealt with government and company hiring practices.
However, with the passing of these new regulations, women will be protected from sexual harassment and given equal opportunity for promotion and equal wages in all sectors.
If a woman encounters discriminatory practices or harassing behavior, she can report it to an anti-discrimination development committee which will immediately investigate with the power to impose fines.
All government institutions, public organizations and business groups are within the new law's range. Chaebol groups should be careful in promoting and laying off personel.
Certain employers are worried that there might be an onslaught of anti-discrimination claims in business groups. There are bound to be ambiguous cases or grey areas and it will be hard to determine what is discrimination and what is not.
The government, therefore, will create specific guidelines on what constitutes discrimination to avoid problems in the future.