Low-Rank Public Officials' Wages Increased by Up to 6.6%... Childcare Conditions Also Improved

Approval of the Amendment to Local Personnel and Salary-Related Laws at the Cabinet Meeting

Next year, local government employees' wages will increase by 3%, and additional raises will be applied to low-tenure employees, raising their wages by up to 6.6%. The childcare environment for public officials will also improve, including extending the recognized career period during parental leave and expanding the payment ceiling.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that a partial amendment to local personnel and salary-related laws containing these details was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 31st. The relevant laws include ▲Local Government Officials Appointment Decree ▲Regulations on Appointment of Local Research and Guidance Officials ▲Local Government Officials Salary Regulations ▲Regulations on Local Government Officials' Allowances, among others.

First, according to the amendments to the salary and allowance regulations, local government employees' salaries will increase by 3% compared to this year. For low-tenure employees, an additional 3.6% increase will be applied to improve their treatment, resulting in a total increase of up to 6.6%.

To encourage long-term service among low-tenure employees, the criteria for paying the regular service allowance to employees with less than four years of service will also be improved. Currently, the regular service allowance is paid differentially from 0% (less than 1 year) to 15% (less than 4 years) of the monthly salary, but starting next year, it will increase to 10% (1 to less than 2 years) to 20% (3 to less than 4 years) of the monthly salary. Additionally, the overtime work allowance rate for Grade 9 employees will rise from 9,860 won this year to 10,579 won next year.

An additional allowance for civil servants handling civil complaints will also be introduced. An extra 30,000 won per month will be paid within 30% of the existing civil complaint work allowance recipients (50,000 won). For librarian positions, the allowance will be increased by 10,000 won per month.

The amendment to the Local Government Officials Appointment Decree also includes measures to improve working conditions for low-tenure employees. The requirement for continuous service to take self-development leave has been shortened from the current 5 years to 3 years so that low-tenure employees can have opportunities for capacity development.

Improving Conditions So That Childcare Leave Does Not Cause Concerns About Allowances and Career Recognition

The environment for public officials to have and raise children has also improved. First, the recognized career period during childcare leave for the first child has been expanded from the previous maximum of one year to the entire leave period. A Ministry of the Interior and Safety official explained, "When recognizing childcare leave as work experience, there is no reason to distinguish between children, and considering that the spouse may not be able to take childcare leave, it would rather undermine fairness."

When public officials engage in mutual exchanges with officials from other local governments for child-rearing, transfers will be allowed even within the restricted transfer period.

With improvements to the allowance regulations, the current childcare leave allowance payment ceiling of 1.5 million won (80% of monthly salary) will also increase. For 1 to 3 months of leave, the ceiling will be 2.5 million won (100% of monthly salary), for 4 to 6 months, 2 million won (100% of monthly salary), and for leave of 7 months or more, the ceiling will be 1.6 million won (80% of monthly salary).

Furthermore, the payment period for the "childcare leave allowance" given when both parents take childcare leave for the same child for more than 3 months, or for single-parent or parents raising disabled children, and the "childcare work allowance for reduced working hours" paid to public officials working part-time for childcare, will be extended from 12 months to 18 months. The eligible child age for the childcare work hour reduction allowance will also increase from 8 years old to 12 years old.

Finally, the family allowance for the first child will increase from 30,000 won to 50,000 won, and the family allowance for the second and third and subsequent children will each increase by 10,000 won. Accordingly, next year, the family allowance for the second child will be 80,000 won, and for the third child, it will rise to 120,000 won.