“Labour commission recognises principal employer status in first ruling”, 2 April 2026

National Labor Relations Commission has recognised the employer status of a principal contractor in a case where workers employed by public sector subsidiaries and service providers sought to bargain directly with the principal. As the first such ruling following amendments to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, the decision is expected to have implications for future cases.

On 2 April, the Chungnam Regional Labor Relations Commission ruled in favour of a petition filed by the Korean Public Service Workers’ Union, which sought corrective action over the failure to publicly announce bargaining requests submitted to four public institutions — the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, the Korea Asset Management Corporation, and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science.

According to the commission, the panel found that, based on service contracts and statements of work, the public institutions exercised substantive control over subcontracted workers, including in areas such as safety management and workforce allocation, thereby qualifying as employers under the Trade Union Act. This means that the principal public institutions are procedurally required to engage in collective bargaining with the applicant union.

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As this is the first determination of employer status since the amended Trade Union Act came into force, it is expected to have significant implications for collective bargaining between principal and subcontracting entities going forward.