South Korea poised to ban age discrimination in employment

From Channel News Asia, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/250819/1/.html

South Korea – faced with a rapidly ageing population – plans alaw that will ban companies from discriminating against elderlyjob-seekers, the labour minister said Friday. Minister Lee Sang-Soo also said the Labour Ministry plans to changeits name to the Ministry of Employment and Labour as part of efforts toshift its focus to helping workers find jobs. “In order to help cope with the ageing society, we are pushing forthe legislation of a ban on discrimination on grounds of age,” theminister said in an interview with Yonhap news agency. A new law to that effect is expected to be in place in the first half of this year, he said. He also said the government will try to persuade firms and labourunions to shift away from considering seniority in setting wages, andtake performance into account. Lee said companies are reluctant to hire elderly workers because of the seniority-based wage system.  “The government will also pursue a policy of encouraging firms to extend retirement ages,” he said.  The ageing of South Korea’s population accelerated in 2005 as thenumber of old people surged amid a low birth rate, official datashowed.  The number of people aged 65 and over rose 29.5 percent from 2000to 4.4 million in 2005, nearly 13 times the population growth duringthe same period, the National Statistical Office said.