Labor Commission Recognizes Only 1 in 10 Unfair Dismissals... Over Half of Dismissals Involve Workplaces With Fewer Than Five Employees

Workplace Power Abuse 119 Report

High Incidence of Dismissals through Forced Resignation and Inducement to Leave

Over the past three years and seven months, less than 10% of cases submitted to the Labor Relations Commission were recognized as unfair dismissal.

According to data from the Labor Relations Commission obtained by Workplace Power Abuse 119 through Assemblywoman Jung Hye-kyung of the Progressive Party on October 4, only 9.5% (6,509 cases) of the 82,617 cases of unfair dismissal filed from January 1, 2023, to July 31, 2026, were actually recognized as unfair dismissal.

Of all cases submitted, 68,309 were processed. Among these, 34.1% were adjudicated, 31.6% were settled, and 34.2% were withdrawn.

Among the 1,700 dismissed cases, more than half—919 cases (54.1%)—were dismissed without substantive evaluation because they involved workplaces with fewer than five regular employees.

Under the Labor Standards Act, the rule prohibiting employers from dismissing workers without just cause only applies to workplaces with five or more regular employees. Therefore, if a worker at a workplace with fewer than five employees is unfairly dismissed, there are restrictions on seeking relief through the Labor Relations Commission.

Additionally, Workplace Power Abuse 119 also released the results of an analysis of 207 dismissal-related tip-off emails received from January 2025 to June 2026. Of these, cases involving "forced resignation or inducement to resign" accounted for over half, with 115 cases (55.6%). Notably, 74 cases (35.7%) involved resignation prompted by bullying or personal insults, such as verbal abuse, personal attacks, ostracism, or exclusion from work duties. Other identified types included "verbal or immediate dismissal," where no written notice about the reasons or timing of dismissal is given (38 cases); "dismissal outside the law," where relief was not granted due to workplace size being under five employees or a denial of worker status (30 cases); and "retaliation for reporting," where disadvantages were incurred due to filing complaints or reporting issues (28 cases).

'The 10 Commandments of Dismissal' Poster. Workplace Bullying 119.

On October 1, with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Workplace Power Abuse 119 published the "10 Commandments of Dismissal" report, presenting types of dismissal and guiding rules for workers to protect their rights. The report suggested nine institutional improvement tasks, including the redefinition of the concept of workers and adoption of the principle of presumed employee status, preventing the abuse of fixed-term contracts, and making employment succession mandatory, aiming to address gaps in laws and institutions. It also included the "10 Commandments of Dismissal," summarizing key points workers should know in the event of sudden dismissal.

Eunha Park, a labor attorney at Workplace Power Abuse 119, pointed out, "When workers are pressured to resign or induced to leave and end up submitting resignation letters, this is not a voluntary decision to leave work, but rather a form of indirect dismissal meant to allow the employer to avoid legal responsibilities and disadvantages associated with dismissal." She further emphasized, "The system should be improved so that the true cause of job separation is evaluated comprehensively to determine if it constitutes dismissal and loss of employee eligibility for employment insurance, and so that the employer bears the burden of proving that the resignation was voluntary and that the contract ended for a legitimate reason."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.