Invest KOREA

The classification of waste treatment business for the collection, transport, recycling or disposal of wastes is prescribed by Article 25(5) of the Wastes Control Act and the operational details by each category of business shall be as follows: – Waste collection and transportation business: A business that either collects wastes and transports them to a recycling or treatment facility or collects and transports wastes to export them – Interim waste disposal business: A business that specializes in interim disposal wastes, such as disposal by incineration, physical, chemical or biological disposal, or any other disposal in a manner acknowledged and publicly notified by the Minister of Environment as a safe way to intermediately dispose of wastes, with facilities for interim disposal of wastes – Terminal waste disposal business: A business that specializes in final disposal of wastes, such as landfills (excluding discharging into the sea) with facilities for final disposal of wastes – General waste disposal business: A business that performs both interim and final disposal of wastes with facilities for interim and final disposal of wastes – Interim waste recycling business: A business that manufactures intermediately processed wastes with facilities for recycling of wastes – Terminal waste recycling business: A business that performs the recycling of intermediately processed wastes in accordance with the principles of recycling wastes or matters to be observed under Article 13-2, with facilities for recycling of wastes – General waste recycling business: A business that conducts both interim recycling business and terminal recycling business with facilities for recycling of wastes

In regard to the collection, transport and recycling of waste that is exported or imported, the Wastes Control Act or the Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources is applied. ◎ Therefore, when intending to collect, transfer and export wastes, a permission for waste collection and transfer pursuant to Article 25 of the Wastes Control Act should be obtained. Where interim waste treatment is required, a permission for interim waste treatment business should be acquired. ◎ In addition, where a permission to import wastes is obtained, the imported wastes should be treated by the importer or commissioned to a legitimate treatment entity in accordance with Article 18-3 of the Act on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes.

The guarantee of treatment of abandoned waste is a system to prevent the abandonment of waste by waste treatment business entities specializing in industrial wastes and persons who have filed a report on waste treatment pursuant to Article 40 of the Wastes Control Act. Under the system, waste treatment business entities, etc. form a mutual aid association for waste treatment business and choose either of the following measures: pay a certain amount of contribution to the mutual aid association so that the association can treat the abandoned wastes of its members; or purchase an insurance policy covering the cost of waste treatment. The purpose of this system is to guarantee the treatment of abandoned waste that may be generated from the default or business closure of waste treatment business entities.

"Household chemical products that require safety check" are household chemical products that are recognized as having risk as a result of risk evaluation and designated and publicly announced as such by the Minister of Environment. As of the end of June 2020, 39 items including cleaners and laundry detergents have been designated and announced. Also, to manufacture or import such products of which the safety standards have been publicly announced, a confirmation of conformity by a testing or inspection agency is required. ◎ When a household chemical product that requires safety check received confirmation of conformity with safety standards, a report should be filed to the President of the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI). To manufacture or import household chemical products for which safety standards have not been publicly announced, an approval of the President of the National Institute of Environmental Research should be obtained.

When intending to manufacture or import 1 t or more of phase-in chemical substances or 100 kg or more of non phase-in substances per year, a registration should be filed with the President of the National Institute of Environmental Research. However, in the case of phase-in chemical substances of 1 t or more per year, manufacturing or importing is permitted without registration during the grace period for registration. To have the grace period applied, a report should be filed to the CEO of Korea Environment Corporation. ◎ To manufacture or import non phase-in substances subject to report, a report should be filed to the President of the National Institute of Environmental Research. ◎ To manufacture or import substances subject to intensive control, report to the head of the relevant river basin environmental office or regional environmental office.

Before establishing a factory, if the manufacturing facilities, etc. that are to be established within the factory fall under the category of "facilities that discharge environmental pollutants" as defined by environmentrelated laws, a prior permit/approval must be acquired regarding establishment of discharging facilities as prescribed by such laws. ※ For details regarding permits and approvals for installation of facilities that discharge environmental pollutants as prescribed by environmental laws, refer to the book "Environmental Policies in Korea 2020" available in PDF format on the Invest Korea website (www.investkorea.org).

Data on wages are considered sensitive and confidential, so it is hard to access data on the wages the employees of foreigninvested companies. However, some consulting companies or head-hunting companies might have their own comparative data on such wages. Also, the Ministry of Employment provides statistical data on labor and employment through its website (laborstat.moel.go.kr) where users can access information on the wages of Korea classified by industry, size of business, type of employment, business type, etc.

A temporary shutdown means that even though an employee wishes to provide labor as per the labor contract, such a provision of labor is not possible or the employer refuses to receive service. According to Article 46 of the Labor Standards Act, when a business shuts down due to a cause attributable to the employer, he/she shall pay the employees concerned allowances of not less than 70 percent of their average wages during the period of shutdown. If that amount exceeds the amount of ordinary wage, ordinary wage can be paid as shutdown allowance. ◎ A cause attributable to the employer can be considered as a business disruption that is caused within the scope of the authority of the employer. Therefore, although each matter requires careful individual judgment, 1) poor sales and financial difficulty; 2) lack of raw materials; 3) transfer of factory; 4) market recession and production volume reduction, etc. have been recognized as causes attributable to the employer.

There are no provisions under labor laws that stipulate that it is mandatory for foreign-invested companies to hire Korean employees. However, when it comes to visa issuance for hiring foreign professionals, the number of Korean employees could be an important benchmark. When issuing an E-7 (Specific Activity) visa, the number of recipients can be restricted to within 20 percent of the number of Korean employees. In order to hire foreign professionals, it is advised to check the specific visarelated matters in advance with the immigration office.

In accordance with Article 34 of the Labor Standards Act and Article 4 of the Act on Guarantee of Retirement Allowance to Employees, when an employee retires after working for at least a period of one year, retirement allowance pertaining to the average wage of at least 30 days must be paid for one year of continuous service. There are no restrictions to the reason for retirement, and the retirement allowance must be paid in all cases in which the labor contract is terminated, such as when the employee resigns, dies, reaches the retirement age, is dismissed upon disciplinary action, or the company ceases to exist. However, when an employee's continuous service period is less than one year, or when an employee’s weekly average work hours for four weeks is less than 15 hours, retirement allowance need not be paid. ◎ The retirement allowance system was adopted on Dec. 1, 2005. All employers must adopt the retirement allowance or retirement pension system. When an employee has retired, the employer shall pay a retirement allowance within 14 days from the day that the cause of the payment has occurred. Under special circumstances, the payment deadline can be extended upon discussion among the parties concerned.