비공식 고용과 노동법

Abstract

노동법의 사각지대 특히 비공식 고용에 대한 연구가 시급하게 필요하다. 비공식 고용의 유형에는 공식적 배제, 묵시적 배제, 사실상 배제 세 가지가 있는데, 앞의 두 가지는 법적 배제로서 입법(법의 제정이나 개정)과 사법(법 해석의 변경)에서 주로 해결하여야 할 과제이고, 세 번째 유형은 근로감독 행정의 개선 등 정부의 노력이 선행되어야 할 과제이다. 비공식 고용 규율의 중심적 수단은 억제와 지원 그리고 홍보이다. 억제 정책이란 근로감독을 핵심적인 정책 수단으로 하여 단속 등 강행적 방식을 통해 비공식 고용을 축소해 나가는 것이고, 지원 정책이란 취약계층을 대상으로 사회보험료 지원정책과 같이 재정적, 행정적 지원을 통해 비공식 고용의 줄여 나가는 것이며, 홍보란 비공식 고용의 문제점과 정부의 규제 의지를 밝히는 것이다. 한편, 우리나라 비공식 고용의 특징 중 하나는 법원의 법 해석에 따른 묵시적 배제가 많다는 점 및 여기에 관여된 사용자가 대기업 등 지불능력이 충분한 법인이라는 점이다.The biggest problem in Korea, extreme social and economical bipolarization, actually stems from labour realm. Most of Korean workers, starting from the irregular workers hired in small shops, worked hired in mid-size business to even regular workers in big business, are working under abnormal conditions. Abnormality of labour conditions is an indicator that there is a great gap between regulations under the labour law and actual realities. Although inconsistency between law and reality might have existed in all countries, it is quite significant in Korean labour law. Another salient characteristic is that this gap differs greatly among different labour groups (or classes). The latter is actually more important, because a mere 'overall evaluation' or the gap between law and reality is not enough to learn about the real conditions in working world. In Korea, the principles of labour are applied at different levels for each class. In the case of large business regular workers, with the exception of rare cases where the worker has agreed on(overtime work etc.), most law principles are observed. Meanwhile, in the case of mid-size business regular workers, they have experienced a few cases where the acts are not complied with. In the case of irregular workers in mid-size businesses, however, the acts are rarely applied, and unofficially hired workers see no application of laws at all. In summary, depending on the group of class the worker pertains to, principles of labour law are applied anywhere between 0% and 100%. This paper aims to show that Korean society needs to urgently build or recover the labour and working conditions to normal state, in particular for irregular or unofficial workers. The term 'normal' here refers to recovering what was left in the back burner during the fast economic development, or 'establishing a principle that will be constantly and universally applied.' In other words, 'normal' means that the law will be generally applied to most people, and that exceptions may occur sometimes (rarely) to some people. In the following parts I will explore how the law is faulty and how this leads to the serious condition where labour exceptions dominate, and I will explore what the 'normal condition' regarding labour and relevant regulation is in Korean society.