남녀고용평등법의 변천에 비추어 본 실효성과 성중립성

Abstract

Before Gender Equality Act of 1987 was established, Korean women were deprived of their basic human rights for no other reason than their gender. Women have been unfairly discriminated against for many years in education, employment and policies in Korea. Through many feminist campaigns and lots of amendments of Gender Equality Act the legal status of Korean women have been improved to a large extent. So women today are becoming more active in society, especially in the business field. Meanwhile, after the low birth rate has come to the fore as a serious social issue in the middle of 1990s, the overriding priority of Gender Equality Act has been transferred from the equal treatment between men and women in employment to the low fertility policies, e.g. financial support for the work family life reconciliation. However, the equal treatment between men and women in employment must be distinct from financial support for the work family life reconciliation even if the latter originally has been derived from the former. Because the main purposes of the both policies have nothing in common with each other, the policies must be regulated by the different acts. In addition the regulations for the equal treatment between men and women should adapt to existing reality. In some respects women are not necessarily discriminated gender who need to be protected by the law. There are many professional carrier women with more ability than average men. In that sense occupation ability development and the affirmative actions which aim to improve the employment of women, are not adequate for the real Korean society in which men (especially in old age) have more difficulty to find the job than women in the same age. Further the regulations of maternity leave and the reduction of working hour in the period of infant care, which protect themselves the women, are not realistic because female workers of small businesses can’t exercise their legal rights. So the lawmaker should also consider whether the existing law is appropriate for the real. In this respect the law should be consistent with not only the justice, but also the reality. Most people hope that in the future Gender Equality Act should not be necessary with a result of the realization of gender equality in the workplace.