(MENAFN) Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged South Korea to eliminate employment discrimination based on age, particularly criticizing the country’s policy that forces workers to retire at age 60.

In a detailed 72-page report released Tuesday, HRW highlighted that both the mandatory retirement age and the peak wage system unfairly target older employees. Under current rules, workers must retire at 60 and, if rehired, often receive only half of their previous salary. Additionally, employers are allowed to reduce wages for older staff starting three to five years before mandatory retirement.

HRW recommended that South Korea abolish both the mandatory retirement policy and the peak wage system, while also reevaluating re-employment and social security programs. The group acknowledged that the government aims to allow older workers to stay employed until at least 60 and to support younger workers’ job prospects, but stressed that the disadvantages faced by older employees outweigh these goals.

Instead, HRW suggested the government adopt less harmful approaches, such as promoting professional development for older workers and offering subsidies to employers who hire younger employees.
The report also noted that these policies disproportionately impact women more than men.

“South Korea’s laws and policies to protect older workers from age discrimination actually do the exact opposite,” said Bridget Sleap, senior researcher on older people’s rights at HRW. “They deny older workers the opportunity to continue working in their main jobs, pay them less, and push them into lower-paid, precarious work, all just because of their age. The government should stop punishing workers for getting older,” she added.

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