Part-Time Public Officials Union Condemns Personnel Minister: "Do Not Block Expansion of 40-Hour Workweek"

Proportional Pay by Hours... Structural Discrimination Left Unaddressed

The Korea Federation of Trade Unions National Part-Time Public Officials Labor Union (Chairperson Jeong Seonghye) held a press conference in front of the Ministry of Personnel Management in Sejong City on the afternoon of the 26th, condemning Minister of Personnel Management Choi Dongsuk for blocking the expansion of the 40-hour workweek for part-time public officials in response to life-cycle changes.

Siganseontaekje Nojo held a press conference on the 26th in front of the Ministry of Personnel Management, calling for an expansion of the scope of the 40-hour workweek in response to life-course changes. Provided by Siganseontaekje Nojo.

On this day, the part-time public officials union delivered a letter to the Ministry of Personnel Management titled "Call for Expanding the Range of the 40-Hour Workweek in Response to Life-Cycle Changes." The union argued that more than 3,500 part-time recruited public officials nationwide are unable to fully demonstrate their capabilities because of the current 35-hour cap on weekly working hours, and claimed that they could be immediately shifted to a 40-hour workweek system without any additional new hiring.

Chairperson Jeong Seonghye pointed out, "It seems that Minister Choi Dongsuk is under the mistaken impression that 30% of part-time workers are working 20 hours a week out of their own choice." She continued, "After the Ministry of Personnel Management revised the Public Officials Appointment Regulations in 2019 to allow appointing authorities to forcibly change working hours, there have been cases where appointing authorities unilaterally reduced 35-hour workers to 20 hours per week," adding, "We requested improvements several times, but were ignored."

The union criticized the part-time recruitment public official system for having structural limitations from the outset. It argued that in 2014, the Park Geunhye administration, in its rush to achieve a 70% employment rate target, designed the system as a "fixed short-hours until retirement" structure that does not allow mutual conversion with full-time positions. Unlike cases in countries such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, where working hours can be flexibly adjusted according to one’s life cycle, this rigidity has turned the system into a failed policy that now results in only one or two people being hired per year since its launch, the union pointed out.

Secretary-General Kim Jinsik said, "Part-time recruited public officials are general-service public officials who have passed open competitive or career competitive examinations," adding, "Administrative practices that shift the blame for a numbers-driven, failed system onto them cannot be justified."

Meanwhile, during a briefing on current work by the Public Administration and Security Committee of the National Assembly on the 5th, Assemblywoman Park Junghyun (Democratic Party of Korea, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon) rebuked the Ministry of Personnel Management for failing to present concrete alternatives regarding the abolition of the part-time system and the preparation of countermeasures, which had been requested during last year's parliamentary audit. At the time, Minister Choi Dongsuk is reported to have responded, "Since 30% of workers are on 20-hour schedules, abolishing the system is virtually impossible."