63.0% Report Operational Difficulties Due to Work Gaps Caused by Short Working Hours
The National Time-Selective Public Officials Labor Union (Chairperson Jeong Seong-hye) announced on the 2nd that among 222 institutions (excluding those without time-selective public officials) that responded to a survey on difficulties in operating the time-selective public official recruitment system conducted from June to the end of July targeting personnel departments of 243 local governments nationwide, 162 institutions (72.97%) expressed a desire for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to increase the main working hours of time-selective public officials up to 40 hours to improve the quality of public services and resolve work gaps.
Time-selective public officials were introduced as a system guaranteeing tenure for public officials who can choose their preferred working hours, aimed at expanding women's economic activities and promoting gender equality, which was the 65th of the 140 national tasks under the Park Geun-hye administration. The goal was "Proper time-selective jobs, with the government taking the lead," allowing people who find full-time work difficult, such as women with career interruptions, to work the hours they want. As of December 31, 2023, 2,085 people are employed nationwide, of whom 1,562 (74.9%) are women.
To promote the introduction and expansion of time-selective public officials, on December 30, 2013, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety established Article 51-6 (Recruitment Examination for Time-Selective Public Officials) Paragraph 1 of the Local Public Officials Appointment Decree, stating: "The head of the examination institution shall ensure that at least 1% of the planned recruitment for general public officials at grade 7 or below through open competitive recruitment or career competitive recruitment examinations as prescribed in Article 27 Paragraph 2 of the Act are appointed as time-selective public officials as determined by the Minister of the Interior and Safety." This mandated that 1% of the recruitment for public officials at grade 7 or below be time-selective public officials.
However, with the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017, citing the enhancement of local governments' recruitment autonomy, Article 51-6 was deleted on March 20, 2018, by promulgating the Local Public Officials Appointment Decree. Since then, the number of appointments plummeted to 18, and collective recruitment has been suspended since 2019.
The Time-Selective Labor Union has independently shared the results of annual surveys on difficulties in operating the time-selective public official recruitment system with personnel departments of local governments since 2022 to improve the system after recruitment suspension.
In the June 2024 survey on "Difficulties in Operating the Time-Selective Public Official Recruitment System," among 222 institutions, 140 (63.0%) cited "short working hours" as a difficulty, followed by 111 institutions (50%) reporting "difficulty in assignment."
Regarding the expansion of working hours for time-selective public officials, who currently can work up to 35 hours per week, to up to 40 hours per week, the number of personnel departments supporting or intending to operate according to Ministry of the Interior and Safety guidelines increased from 115 institutions in 2022 to 162 institutions in 2024, an increase of 47 institutions.
The reasons for the increase in support can be seen in the "Personnel Departments' Opinions on Expanding the Working Hours Range of Time-Selective Public Officials from 15 to 40 Hours per Week." Representative reasons include no difference in duties between full-time and time-selective public officials, resolving work gaps, and providing diverse assignments. Summarizing personnel departments' opinions, expanding the working hours range of time-selective public officials to 40 hours per week is perceived to have greater positive effects. However, since changing the working hours range to 40 hours per week requires legal amendments, many local governments stated that they would actively implement it if the Ministry of the Interior and Safety revises the laws and guidelines.
Chairperson Jeong Seong-hye said, "Time-selective public officials want to contribute more to their institutions by increasing their working hours up to 40 hours amid a rush of resignations among low-experience public officials. Since this survey result shows strong demand not only from the individuals but also from local government personnel departments, we hope the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will resolve field difficulties through legal amendments." She added, "The Time-Selective Labor Union plans to hold a National Assembly forum in September with Ministry of the Interior and Safety officials, the Ministry of Personnel Management officials, and experts to discuss the necessity of changing the working hours range of time-selective public officials from 15 to 40 hours, based on this survey result and research on the current status and improvement directions of time-selective public officials."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
