Holding a National Assembly Forum on Expanding Working Hours up to 40 Hours per Week for Part-Time Contracted Public Officials

10th Anniversary of Appointment, Announcement of Survey Results on Contracted Public Officials
Co-hosted by National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee Members Park Jeong-hyun, Lee Hae-sik, and Yong Hye-in

The National Time-Selective Public Officials Labor Union (Chairperson Jeong Seong-hye) will hold a "National Assembly Forum on the Necessity of Expanding the Working Hours Range up to 40 Hours per Week for Time-Selective Hired Public Officials" on September 23 at 4 p.m. in the main auditorium of the National Assembly Library in Yeouido.

The forum is hosted by Park Jeong-hyun (Daejeon Daedeok-gu) and Lee Hae-sik (Seoul Gangdong-gu) of the Democratic Party, members of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, and Yong Hye-in, a proportional representative of the Basic Income Party.

The Time-Selective Labor Union has held annual National Assembly forums since August 8, 2017, starting with the "National Assembly Forum for the Improvement of the Time-Selective Public Official System," identifying the current status and issues of time-selective hired public officials through these forums and leading to system improvements.

This forum will be the 8th session and will cover the announcement of the results of the "Time-Selective Hired Public Officials Survey Research" conducted on June 25 and discuss directions for improvement.

The forum titled "National Assembly Forum on the Necessity of Expanding the Working Hours Range up to 40 Hours per Week for Time-Selective Hired Public Officials" will address detailed agenda items including ▲ amendment of the Public Officials Act to secure the right to apply for working hours changes ▲ calculation of the official headcount for those working less than 40 hours ▲ improvement of the issue of deducting one hour uniformly for overtime work ▲ constitutional complaints regarding equality rights violations such as forced changes in working hours ▲ and improvement of payment methods for various allowances such as holiday leave pay.

Jeong Seong-hye, Chairperson of the Time-Selective Labor Union, stated, “As a result of a status survey conducted in August 2024 targeting 777 time-selective hired public officials, 634 (81.6%) were working 31 to 35 hours or less per week. Among the 602 who responded that they do overtime work, 370 (61.5%) reported working more than 21 hours of overtime per month (over the past six months). Including overtime hours, they are effectively working 40 hours per week.

Since various salaries, allowances, and promotion periods are calculated proportionally based on weekly working hours, even though they work 40 hours per week, they accumulate losses in pay and promotions until retirement. By amending the law to allow time-selective hired public officials, whose reasons for working shorter hours have been resolved, to increase their working hours up to 40 hours per week, it will help eliminate work gaps and secure flexible and efficient personnel management, thereby improving the quality of public services. This is why we are holding the 'National Assembly Forum on the Necessity of Expanding the Working Hours Range up to 40 Hours per Week for Time-Selective Hired Public Officials,'” she explained.

Kim Jin-sik, Vice Chairperson of the Time-Selective Labor Union, said, “In June 2024, the Time-Selective Labor Union surveyed local government personnel departments regarding opinions on changing the working hours range for time-selective hired public officials to 15 to 40 hours per week. Among 222 local government institutions (excluding those without time-selective hired public officials), 162 institutions (72.97%) want the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to increase the main working hours of time-selective hired public officials to 40 hours to improve the quality of public services and eliminate work gaps. The time-selective hired public officials themselves also want this. Given the recent high turnover rate among public officials, I hope the Ministry of Personnel Management and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety do not ignore the voices of time-selective hired public officials who want to work more by increasing their working hours,” he said.

The discussion at the "National Assembly Forum on the Necessity of Expanding the Working Hours Range up to 40 Hours per Week for Time-Selective Hired Public Officials" will be conducted by ▲ presenter Jae Jun-ho, professor at Jeonbuk National University ▲ chair Bae Gyu-sik, former president of the Korea Labor Institute ▲ Ryu Dong-hyun, head of the Seoul branch of the Time-Selective Labor Union ▲ Yoo Ji-young, lawyer at Law Office iWIN ▲ a representative from the Ministry of Personnel Management's Personnel Innovation Planning Division ▲ and a representative from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Local Personnel System Division.