Reasons for Proposal and Major Provisions

Following the 2014 salt farm slavery incident, where dozens of persons with disabilities were exploited through forced labor, wage theft, confinement, and assault, the nation has again been shocked by a serious of exposures of modern slavery including an Internet cafe owner who confined victims in his own house, forced them to work 16 hour days, and heavily assaulted them if sales declined.

Modern slavery continues to occur as the current Act does not clearly prescribe contract termination, disqualification, or other legal penalties against perpetrators.

To eradicate serious human rights violations, there is an urgent need to establish an institutional mechanism to restrict the social and financial activity of perpetrators of abuse and discrimination against socially vulnerable groups.

Accordingly, the Amendment prescribes that where an employer has forced an employee to work against his or her own free will through the use of violence, intimidation, confinement, or any other means by which the mental or physical freedom of the employee might be unduly restricted, the employer shall be disqualified for two years from participating in tenders for a contract to which the State is a party (Article 27 (1) 9 newly inserted).