Public Servants' Union and Public Workers' Union Alternately Release 'Statements'
Public Worker Regulations Vary by Local Government... Standardization Needed
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] There has been a daily dispute over the issue of "purposes other than the reason for leave" regarding the leave of absence of employees belonging to the Naju City Hall in Jeollanam-do.
Since public workers and fixed-term workers set regulations through agreements with each local government, there are voices calling for government-level guidelines for uniform regulations.
According to Naju City on the 23rd, recently, there was a suspicion that a public worker A, belonging to the city, was campaigning for a mayoral candidate's camp.
A submitted a leave of absence application for caregiving purposes, attaching a family member's medical certificate, and was granted leave from December 3 last year to June 2 this year.
The problem arose when it became known that A was helping with the election campaign of the Naju mayoral candidate.
The public officials' union immediately issued a statement, citing Article 42 of the "Naju City Public Workers and Fixed-term Workers Employment Management Regulations," which states that "those on leave cannot engage in other work without the mayor's approval" and raised the issue. This is precisely the "purpose other than the reason for leave."
They argued that election campaigning and activities by public workers cannot be a reason for leave, and if one takes leave for reasons such as childcare or family care but engages in election camp activities or campaigning, it constitutes an abuse of the leave system and grounds for disciplinary action.
In response, the public workers' union immediately released a rebuttal statement, asserting that public workers are not prohibited from election campaigning.
They stated that any interference by the public officials' union in actions taken during leave within the prescribed regulations is a clear act of overreach.
They also cited Article 16 of the union collective agreement as a basis for guaranteeing free political activities.
They pointed out that raising issues about the use of leave for purposes other than the intended one could discourage the use of leave by not only public workers but all city hall employees.
In response, the public officials' union requested the city to thoroughly investigate whether all public officials and public workers on leave are using their leave for purposes other than the intended ones.
Regarding this, the higher authority, Jeollanam-do Province, stated that it is difficult to consider election campaigning itself as "other work," making the issue ambiguous.
An official from the province said, "However, public workers are not subject to the Public Officials Act and are governed by collective agreements each local government has made with the National Democratic Labor Union. Therefore, since standards differ by local government, uniform guidelines are necessary."
Meanwhile, administrative loopholes in Naju City were also discovered during the leave process. According to the Act on Gender Equality in Employment and Work-Family Balance Support, family care leave is limited to a maximum of 90 days per year, but the leave period recognized for A was 182 days.
Also, the Construction and Road Management Team to which A belongs did not know A's mobile phone number and could not contact him.
Since A started leave on December 3 last year, it means they had not known the contact information for over five months at least.
Regarding this, a city official said, "It seems that A changed the contact number and did not report it to the city," adding, "We will update the emergency contact network to keep it current."
Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong bong2910@asiae.co.kr
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