[Exclusive] Gwangsan-gu Facility Management Corporation in Gwangju Suspected of Skipping Procedures in Non-Regular Worker Conversion

Three Employees Converted Over the Past Two Years: Municipal Waste and Welfare Facility Director
Key Procedures Skipped, Including Conversion Committee Review and Public Recruitment
Issues Raised During Last Year's Administrative Audit
Case

The Gwangsan District Facility Management Corporation in Gwangju has come under suspicion for allegedly skipping essential procedures such as review and public recruitment in the process of converting non-regular workers to regular positions over the past two years. The cases in question involve two temporary workers responsible for municipal waste management in 2023 and a contract director at a welfare facility under the corporation in 2024.

Gwangju Gwangsan-gu Facility Management Corporation Bitgoeul National Sports Center. Photo by Song Bohyun

According to an investigation by Asia Economy on August 15, Article 63, Paragraph 4 of the "Local Public Enterprises Act" stipulates, "The president of the corporation shall, in principle, hire employees through an open competitive examination." The "Gwangsan District Facility Management Corporation Personnel Regulations" also set the open competitive examination as the principle, with limited exceptions such as hiring existing employees for projects entrusted by the district office. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety's "Guidelines on Conversion of Non-Regular Workers to Regular Positions" (July 20, 2017) specify that review by a conversion committee and a public recruitment process for eligible candidates are mandatory procedures.

This issue was also raised during the administrative audit of the Gwangsan District Council last year. According to the meeting minutes, Councilman Kim Taewan pointed out procedural issues, stating, "For the two temporary environmental workers subject to conversion, only one team leader from the relevant department participated as an evaluation committee member." He added, "Although the audit office issued an order for improvement, stating that a single-person evaluation lacks validity, this was not reflected."

Councilman Kim further stated, "The Director of Civil Affairs, who served as the chair of the personnel committee, expressed concerns about the procedures and methods at the time of the meeting, but the original proposal was approved by a majority of the committee members." He also claimed that "when seeking labor consulting, key facts such as breaks in employment were not communicated to the consulting agency." In a phone call with this paper, he added, "Since the administrative audit, I have not received any additional materials or explanations."

Regarding this matter, multiple informants claimed, "The hiring was finalized based on an internal evaluation by a single department team leader without review by the conversion committee," and raised suspicions of preferential treatment or pre-selection for certain individuals. They mentioned possible violations of the Criminal Act (obstruction of business and breach of duty), the Local Public Enterprises Act, and Ministry of the Interior and Safety guidelines. Some said they are preparing to submit complaints and requests for investigation based on related documents.

Entrance of Gwangsan District Facility Management Corporation office. Photo by Song Bohyun

The corporation explained that both cases were unavoidable conversions rather than intentional preferential treatment, and that there were no violations of laws or regulations. Regarding the two temporary municipal waste workers, the corporation stated that although their contracts were repeatedly terminated and renewed, consultations with two labor attorneys and the labor office concluded that if the total period of employment exceeds two years, conversion to regular status is mandatory, regardless of contract interruptions.

In the case of the welfare facility director, the corporation explained that after a private foundation gave up its entrusted management, the corporation took over emergency operations, and the director signed a two-year contract after a three-month temporary period. Since the total period of employment exceeded two years, a labor attorney determined that conversion was unavoidable under the Act on Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employees.

When asked, "Even if conversion is mandatory after two years, shouldn't standard procedures such as review by the conversion committee and public recruitment notice have been followed according to regulations or guidelines?" the corporation replied that in both cases, based on the same judgment that conversion is mandatory after two years, review by the personnel committee and approval by the board of directors and district office were conducted.

[Right of Reply] Regarding "Gwangju Gwangsan District Facility Management Corporation, Suspicion Over Hiring Procedures" and Related Matters

On August 15 and September 4, our paper reported in the National-Honam section under the headline "Exclusive, Gwangju Gwangsan District Facility Management Corporation, Suspicions of Omitted Procedures in Non-Regular Worker Conversion" that suspicions had been raised about the omission of essential procedures such as review and public recruitment in the process of converting non-regular workers to regular positions over the past two years.

In response, the Gwangju Gwangsan District Facility Management Corporation stated, "The conversion to regular employment was carried out without omission in accordance with the corporation's regulations and procedures, and labor consulting agencies determined that there were no problems with the hiring process."

This report is the result of mediation by the Press Arbitration Commission.