[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] The usage rate of health leave among female public officials working at Seoul City Hall was found to be among the lowest nationwide across cities and provinces.
According to data obtained on the 4th from Shin Jihye, Co-representative of the Basic Income Party, only 16 out of 4,057 female public officials affiliated with Seoul City (0.4%) have used health leave at least once. This ranks 14th out of 17 cities and provinces nationwide.
The top rank was Gangwon-do, where 74 out of 674 people (11%) used health leave for at least one day. This was followed by Jeollanam-do at 7.6%, Gyeonggi-do at 3.5%, and Busan Metropolitan City at 3.0%. Regions with lower health leave usage rates than Seoul were Ulsan Metropolitan City, Sejong Special Self-Governing City, and Jeollabuk-do, all at 0%.
Seoul City has the second highest proportion of female public officials at 39%, following Sejong City at 45%. A Seoul City official stated, "The usage rate is low because it is unpaid leave."
According to Article 7 of the Local Public Officials Act, female public officials are entitled to one day of unpaid health leave each month for rest during their menstrual period. Originally, this leave was paid, but it was changed to unpaid with the implementation of the five-day workweek.
Co-representative Shin said, "Using female health leave in the public sector has become a matter of concern, and health rights are not being guaranteed," adding, "It is necessary to revise the Local Public Officials Act to make female health leave paid."
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