Assemblyman Yoon Young-deok: "There is discrimination among staff at Seoul National University"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Allegations of discrimination among employees have been raised at Seoul National University, a national university corporation.

On the 22nd, according to the 'Status of Employees at National Universities and National University Corporations' data submitted by the Ministry of Education to National Assembly member Yoon Youngdeok (Democratic Party·Gwangju Dongnamgap), professors at SNU have employee numbers starting with ‘A’, while staff have numbers starting with ‘B’ or ‘Z’.

At Seoul National University, those whose employee numbers start with Z are called ‘Jache Staff’ (self-employed staff). Their number is about 2,000, accounting for nearly 65% of all employees working at SNU, but they are said to exist as invisible people within the campus.

Rep. Yoon stated, “As of April, the total number of employees at Seoul National University is 2,964, of which 1,060 are corporate employees and the remaining 1,904 are Jache Staff,” adding, “However, the official statistical yearbook published by SNU records the total number of employees as 1,787 as of last April.”

He also claimed, “According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s employment type disclosure system, the number of SNU employees as of March is 3,124. However, the number of employees reported by Seoul National University in the National Assembly audit report as of September this year is 1,051. This differs by more than 2,000 from the number disclosed by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.”

Rep. Yoon explained that this discrepancy stems from the difference between ‘corporate employees’ and ‘Jache Staff’.

Seoul National University started as a national university corporation in 2011, with corporate employees composed of existing public officials, university accounting staff, and newly hired regular employees, while each affiliated institution of SNU independently hires Jache Staff.

Corporate employees are managed centrally by the university headquarters in terms of personnel and labor management. In contrast, Jache Staff are subject to a salary system rather than a seniority system, and there is no rank or promotion structure.

The labor costs for corporate employees are officially budgeted in the Seoul National University corporate accounting budget. On the other hand, Jache Staff labor costs do not appear as a separate item; they are unofficially included within the project or operating expenses budgets of SNU affiliated institutions as indirect costs.

Rep. Yoon explained that discrimination between corporate employees and Jache Staff is also evident in welfare benefits.

Corporate employees can receive condolence and congratulatory allowances according to labor union collective agreements, but Jache Staff are excluded. The same applies to funeral supplies. A labor union mainly composed of Jache Staff requested to produce funeral supplies at their own expense and asked to use only the Seoul National University emblem, but the labor union rejected this, citing that it is not an on-campus organization.

Rep. Yoon said, “Article 36 of the Seoul National University bylaws states that the president has the authority to appoint and dismiss SNU employees but may delegate part of this authority to heads of affiliated institutions if necessary,” adding, “However, it is questionable whether it is normal that Jache Staff, who should be a minority, account for two-thirds of all employees.”

He continued, “Seoul National University should improve the discrimination arising between corporate employees and Jache Staff in accordance with the government’s guidelines for converting non-regular workers to regular positions,” and “Furthermore, the status of Jache Staff, who are treated as invisible people, should be clearly identified, and the president should directly exercise appointment authority and take responsibility for integrated personnel management.”