Seoul City Dismisses Public Officials for Unauthorized Absence and Verbal Abuse

Received the lowest grade in performance evaluation and was dismissed by authority
Unauthorized absence without sick leave approval leading to dismissal by authority

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has dismissed civil servant A, who repeatedly verbally abused colleagues and was absent without leave. This is the first time the city has dismissed a civil servant based on a performance evaluation.

According to the Seoul City News on the 11th, the city dismissed A, who had been suspended from duty after receiving the lowest grade in last year's performance evaluation. Dismissal means revoking the civil servant status, which is effectively a termination.

On the 2nd, the city held a personnel committee meeting to deliberate on the dismissal of civil servant A. Previously, A had received the lowest performance rating, "Ga," in last year's evaluation.

From mid-October last year, A was absent without approval for sick leave. Additionally, after establishing a labor union, A pressured employees to join and verbally abused those who refused, which was also problematic.

The city had introduced a performance evaluation system called "Pyeongjeong." Performance is rated on four levels: Su, Woo, Yang, and Ga. Those receiving the lowest grade face measures such as reassignment, withholding of performance bonuses, a six-month restriction on salary step increases, and possible suspension from duty.

In November last year, the city decided on the "Ga" rating for A and three other civil servants. A was suspended from duty after failing to attend the first training session (two weeks) for those rated "Ga" in December. The other three attended the training and were reassigned to different departments. It is reported that A also continued to miss the second training session (three months).

Since the end of last year, A has not responded at all to the city's communications via phone, text, or mail, so the city announced the dismissal through publication in the official gazette.