Why Has Employee Welfare in Gangnam-gu Risen to the Top Tier Since Jeong Soon-gyun Became Mayor?

Seongcheol Lim, Head of the Seoul Branch of the Integrated Union, posted on the union bulletin board on the 14th about "Employee Welfare Changes in 2022," noting an increase in seniority points from 200,000 to 300,000 KRW, event support funds for club employees raised from a 2 million KRW annual limit to a maximum of 1 million KRW per event... Also pointed out that despite the appointment of the General Affairs Manager on January 10, there has been no greeting or phone call to the union executives yet.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Since Jeong Soon-gyun, the mayor of Gangnam-gu, took office in the 7th local government, the welfare level of employees has reportedly improved significantly, attracting attention.

Im Seong-cheol, head of the Seoul branch of the Integrated Public Officials Union (and Welfare Team Leader of Nonhyeon 2-dong, Gangnam-gu), revealed this on the 14th through a post titled "Employee Welfare Changes and a Word of Encouragement in 2022" on the union bulletin board.

Im explained, "In 2018, when the labor union started in the 6th local government, Gangnam-gu employee welfare was ranked 23rd out of 25 autonomous districts in Seoul, known as a place with a large budget but only busy work. However, during the four years of the 7th local government, it has maintained a top position, becoming the envy of other cities and districts, and the number of employees transferring from other districts is increasing, which is encouraging."

First, the length-of-service points within the customized welfare points have been increased by 100,000 KRW from 200,000 KRW to 300,000 KRW, and event support funds for club employees have been raised from a maximum of 500,000 KRW per event to 1,000,000 KRW within an annual limit of 2,000,000 KRW.

It was also mentioned that movies will be screened using the media wall inside the district office, so employees are encouraged to become the protagonists of the movies whenever they have time.

Additionally, restrictions on agreements with local medical institutions for employee health checkups have been lifted, expanding medical institutions beyond Seoul to Gyeonggi-do for convenience, and expenses for foreign language telephone services and employee psychological counseling have also been increased.

Last year, the autonomous field administration support amount, which was very popular among employees but caused conflicts due to differential payments to exemplary employees, has been unified to 300,000 KRW to be distributed fairly among employees.

Use of autonomous resorts has been opened to public officials for three nights and to fixed-term employees with flexible hours for one night, which is somewhat disappointing but expected to be resolved soon.

In addition, funeral supplies and gifts for children's school admission and birthdays are also provided to fixed-term employees.

Public officials who offer warm hearts and detailed explanations to civil petitioners will receive generous incentives, including a commendation from the district mayor, 500 welfare points, and up to two days of special leave, encouraging everyone to take on the challenge.

Besides material benefits, the most significant practical change in 2022 is cited as the personnel transfer in the public health center. The health center, including the Disease Control Division and the Health Administration Manager, has been staffed with capable individuals who can fundamentally improve the system, making the public health center a healthy one and changing the working environment for employees, Im stated.

First, by reducing the number of employees involved in epidemiological investigations and changing the waiting area to the department office, employees can spend what was previously idle time, awkwardly looking at their phones, on pending tasks.

Im said, "The reasons why employees who did not participate in the autonomous field inspections supported with 300,000 KRW each did not attend, the problems and improvement directions of the employee party and duty system, and unreasonable welfare issues are piling up here and there, but since prior consultation with the labor union was not conducted and only post-notification was given, I can only be thankful to the mayor."

However, he criticized, "I wonder if Gangnam-gu Office still considers the legally recognized labor union as just an employee club. I heard there was an appointment of the General Affairs Manager on January 10, but there has been no meeting or even a phone call with the union executives. Why is it that since the rumors of the appointment circulated at the end of last year, there is no need to inform us anymore?"