Teachers Also Guaranteed Paid Union Activities... Time-Off Limit at 49% of Private Sector (Comprehensive)

Holding the 12th General Meeting of the Teacher Diligence Committee
Dividing into 9 Sections Based on Teacher Characteristics

Budget Input at One-Third the Level of Civil Servants
Diligence Committee "Plans to Apply Soon"

Following public officials, teachers have also finalized the discussion on the limit of working hours exemption (time off). Kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school teachers, as well as university professors, will now be able to engage in paid labor union activities during working hours. The time off limit for teacher unions is set at about 49% of that for the private sector, and it is expected to be implemented as early as late next month.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Final Proposal Reached After About 4 Months... At 49% Level of Private Companies

The Teacher Working Hours Exemption Deliberation Committee under the Presidential Committee on Economic and Social Labor Affairs held its 12th plenary meeting on the 28th at the GyeongSaNoWi main conference room in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and finalized the limit on teachers' working hours exemption with the unanimous approval of all members, including labor and government representatives. On that day, 14 out of 15 committee members attended, including 5 teacher representatives, 5 appointing authority representatives, and 4 public interest members, to reach this agreement.

Time off is a system that allows union full-time officers to engage in union activities during working hours while setting limits on such activities. This enables paid union activities. For teachers, the foundation was laid when the Teacher Union Act amendment passed in the National Assembly in 2022, but progress was slow due to disagreements between the government and unions. The full-scale discussion began after the Teacher Working Hours Exemption Committee was launched in June.

Over about four months, the committee held numerous plenary meetings, secretariat meetings, and public interest meetings to coordinate opinions. As a result, they decided to categorize kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school teachers into a total of nine segments based on characteristics and union member size, assigning annual exemption hour limits accordingly. Although there was discussion about setting separate limits for kindergarten/elementary/middle school teachers and high school teachers, the final decision was to include them all at one table.

The committee expects this time off limit to apply to approximately 141 kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as universities. The teacher time off limit is about 49% of that of the private sector. Compared to the recent budget forecast for public officials’ time off (in the mid-20 billion KRW range), the budget for teacher time off is expected to be about one-third of that, according to the committee.

The teacher time off limit will be officially implemented once the chairman of GyeongSaNoWi immediately notifies the Minister of Employment and Labor of the resolution, and the minister completes legal review and administrative notice before promulgation. Yoon Jong-hyuk, chairman of the Teacher Working Hours Exemption Committee, explained, "It is expected to be applied within about a month at the earliest."

Implemented in 6 Segments... "Meaningful as a Complete Agreement"

Going forward, teacher unions will be able to exempt working hours based on the following segments: up to 800 hours annually for unions with 99 or fewer members; up to 1,500 hours for 100?299 members; up to 2,000 hours for 300?999 members; up to 4,000 hours for 1,000?2,999 members; up to 9,000 hours for 3,000?4,999 members; up to 12,000 hours for 5,000?9,999 members; up to 14,000 hours for 10,000?14,999 members; up to 20,000 hours for 15,000?29,999 members; and up to 25,000 hours for 30,000 or more members.

The committee decided the exemption limits considering that kindergarten, elementary, and middle school teachers are mostly concentrated in the 3,000?9,999 member range at the city/province level, taking into account fairness with public official unions. High school teachers are mostly distributed in the 299 or fewer member range at the individual school level, and the limits were set comprehensively considering fairness between private and national/public universities, financial situations of small and medium private universities, as well as the characteristics and activity status of high school teachers.

The number of personnel who can use the exemption annually cannot exceed twice the number of full-time personnel. However, for unions with 99 or fewer members, the maximum number of personnel allowed is two. For unions with 100?999 members, the maximum is three. Additionally, for kindergarten, elementary, and middle school teachers, considering academic schedules and students' right to learn, it is recommended to use the exemption hours in units of 1,000 hours.

Kwon Ki-seop, chairman of GyeongSaNoWi, said, "The decision on the teacher working hours exemption limit is meaningful as it represents complete agreement among labor, government, and public interest members," adding, "We will strive to ensure that this precedent of complete agreement through understanding of the field, patience, and mutual trust in dialogue positively influences social dialogue for job creation for future generations."

Meanwhile, the teacher time off agreement came just six days after the public officials’ time off reached its final consensus. Earlier, the Public Officials Working Hours Exemption Committee held its 11th plenary meeting on the 22nd and finalized the time off limits for public officials. The public official unions were divided into eight segments by union size, with annual exemption hour limits assigned accordingly. This allows each union to have one to two full-time union officers.