Seoul: The government will push to enact or amend laws requiring job platform operators to disclose work assignment algorithms and guarantee platform workers the right to stop work, the labor ministry said Thursday. The initiative aims to protect platform workers by ensuring transparency and safeguarding their rights.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the ministry is reviewing plans to incorporate the provisions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) convention concerning decent work in the platform economy into the framework act on working people, the AI framework act, and other domestic laws. The ILO convention mandates ratifying countries to protect platform workers as employees, rather than classifying them as independent contractors.

It emphasizes guaranteeing basic labor rights, such as minimum wage, health insurance, social security, and sick leave, to platform workers. Platform operators are required to furnish workers with clear and timely information on conditions affecting employment and contracts.

"The government is reviewing whether the ILO convention conflicts with current domestic laws before the National Assembly ratifies it," a ministry official stated. "The related content may also be reflected in the framework act on working people."

The working people framework act is a fundamental law that ensures all labor providers not affiliated with any organization, such as platform workers and freelancers, are granted constitutional labor rights. To this end, the disclosure of platform algorithms is being pursued to transparently provide delivery workers with information on employment and contract conditions, as well as work assignment criteria.

The government believes that the relevant legal basis has already been established under the AI framework act and is reviewing plans to extend its application to the platform labor sector. The ILO convention also stipulates that ratifying countries must guarantee platform workers the right to stop work if they reasonably determine that there is an imminent and grave danger to their life or health at the workplace. The government is considering whether to extend workers' right to stop work to platform workers, the ministry said.