Job-seekers fill in the spaces in their resumes during a job fair at Yonsei University in Seoul, in this September file photo. Lawmakers have proposed a bill to ban discriminatory hiring requirements, including photos, height, weight and any information about the job applicant's parents. / Korea Times file



Bill proposed to ban discriminatory requirements

By Jung Min-ho

Korea is notorious for its intrusive hiring practices that require job applicants to submit not only detailed personal profiles, including photos, but also divulge their parents' occupations and income levels. But this may be soon set to change.

A group of lawmakers, led by Rep. Han Jeoung-ae from the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, proposed a bill last week to ban discriminatory hiring requirements, including demanding photos, height, weight and any information about the job applicant's parents.

"Most companies require information not related to the job. This is wrong and must change," Han said. "Many job applicants worry that they may get discriminated against unfairly based on irrelevant factors."

If passed, violators could face fines of up to 5 million won ($4,300).

According to the survey conducted by Saramin, an online recruitment website, 75.7 percent of Korean employers said job applicants' photos affect their chances of getting interviews.

So, many job-seekers are rightly concerned about how they look in their resume photos. According to another survey done by the website, 68.3 percent of them said that they photoshopped their resume photos, while 28.5 percent said they were even willing to get cosmetic surgery if it would help them land a job.

Observers say evaluating job candidates based on their resume photos is highly wasteful and discriminatory, which is banned in most developed countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Another important purpose of the legislation is to prevent unjust influence-peddling, which has long been pervasive in Korean society.

Over the past few months, such worries have been fueled by some powerful politicians and businessmen.

Most recently, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan has been accused of peddling influence to get his former intern, surnamed Hwang, a job at the state-run Small and Medium Business Commission (SBC) in 2013 when he was a ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker.

The prosecution is investigating suspicions that former SBC head Park Cheol-kyu directly ordered Hwang's employment after meeting Choi.

This came after two other lawmakers _ Kim Tae-won of the ruling Saenuri Party and Yoon Hu-duk of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy _ faced criticism for allegedly using their parliamentary clout to provide their children with job opportunities at Korean Government Legal Services and LG Display, respectively.

They denied the allegations but most people remain unconvinced.

Korea is one of few developed countries that still legally allow employers _ public and private alike _ to ask job applicants for information such as what their parents do and even where they rank in their workplace hierarchies.

Nonetheless, it remains to be seen whether the commonsensical bill will pass the National Assembly. A similar bill was proposed by former lawmaker Chung Ok-im a few years ago, only to be rejected by other lawmakers.