Busan City Implements 'Public Institution Worker Director System'

Public Institution Workers Participate Directly in Management as Non-Executive Directors

Busan City Hall exterior view. (Photo by Busan City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Yoseop] Busan City announced on the 21st that it will officially implement the ‘Public Institution Worker Director System.’

The ‘Worker Director System’ is one of the Moon Jae-in administration’s 100 national tasks and a promise project of Mayor Oh Keo-don’s 7th term in Busan. It is a system designed to realize the social responsibility of public institutions and to spread a culture that respects labor.

Busan City recently established the ‘Detailed Operation Guidelines for the Worker Director System,’ which includes the authority of worker directors, the responsibilities of institution heads, appointment and qualifications, and plans to actively promote the system.

The ‘Public Institution Worker Director System’ allows workers belonging to the institution to perform their regular duties while participating in the board of directors as general non-executive directors and exercising voting rights. Worker directors handle matters such as the institution’s basic business plans, organization and staffing, and the establishment, revision, or abolition of important regulations, just like non-executive directors.

Busan City has held four meetings with labor and management representatives of the nine mandatory institutions to fully collect opinions from both sides, and finalized the detailed operation guidelines through labor-management-government agreement at the end of last year.

The guidelines include provisions to ensure stable and smooth implementation of the system, such as worker director education, guaranteed activity time, prohibition of disadvantageous treatment, and appointment procedures.

The target institutions are based on a staffing standard of 100 employees: nine mandatory institutions (with 100 or more employees) and sixteen discretionary institutions (with fewer than 100 employees). The nine mandatory institutions include five public corporations and foundations (Transportation Corporation, Urban Corporation, Tourism Corporation, Facilities Foundation, Environmental Foundation) and four affiliated institutions (Busan Medical Center, Economic Promotion Agency, Credit Guarantee Foundation, Technopark). Other institutions fall under discretionary adoption.

By allowing workers to directly participate in management through the Worker Director System, transparency and accountability in institution management can be enhanced, thereby increasing public trust. Reflecting workers’ field experience in key management decisions is expected to improve mutual understanding between labor and management and reduce unnecessary conflicts.

Busan City will begin revising internal regulations for the nine mandatory institutions and officially implement the system, aiming to appoint worker directors in most mandatory institutions by the first half of this year. In the second half of next year, the city plans to carefully review the effects of the system’s introduction and expand it to discretionary institutions.

Mayor Oh Keo-don of Busan said, “Institutionalizing workers’ participation in management will play a significant role in strengthening the social responsibility of public institutions and realizing Busan as a city that respects labor.” He added, “We will continuously promote innovation in public institutions alongside the Worker Director System and make relentless efforts for labor-management coexistence in public institutions.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.