 |
| A participant reads aloud the declaration on the rights of persons with disabilities at a ceremony commemorating Disabled Persons' Day at the Marronnier Park, downtown Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
By Lee Yeon-woo
Domestic banks have been fined more than 20 billion won for failing to meet the government's quota for hiring people with disabilities last year, according to data released on Thursday, a day which also marks Disabled Persons' Day in Korea.
Six domestic banks here ― Shinhan, Hana, KB Kookmin, NH Nonghyup, Woori Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) ― have all been fined a total of 20.6 billion won ($15.5 million) for failing to meet the government's disability hiring quota, according to the data provided by Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the ruling People Power Party.
Shinhan Bank paid the largest fine of 4.5 billion won last year, followed by KB Kookmin Bank with 4.48 billion won. Woori, Hana, NH NongHyup, and IBK were all fined less, in that order.
The government has set a disability hiring quota of 3.6 percent in central and local government, as well as public institutions. It has set a 3.1 percent target for private corporations. This means that as a publicly-owned bank, IBK should have offered 3.6 percent of its jobs to people with disabilities, while the other five commercial banks should have hired 3.1 percent.
However, all of the banks except for IBK failed to reach the one percent mark in their hiring rate regarding disabled employees. IBK was the only bank that came close to the target figure, with a rate of 3.42 percent, or 436 employees.
"There are many roles within the financial industry that people with disabilities can excel at, including work-from-home positions," Rep. Yun said. "Banks should not rely on the passive approach of simply issuing recruitment notices and waiting for applications, but instead should actively seek out to hire the talented. This could include visiting educational institutions that serve individuals with disabilities, among other efforts."
![[INTERVIEW] Yim Si-wan went extra mile to portray legendary athlete in 'Road to Boston'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/fdd49ca391cf4ce785bd7136efd0bfa2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Virtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/bcc387606cf7451c94f51a5978960c9f.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
