Joint Declaration by Financial Labor and Management on Withholding Management Evaluation and Allowing Special Extended Work Hours

Efforts to Support Businesses and Small Merchants Affected by COVID-19 Spread
Labor Union to Allow Special Overtime and Promote Flexible Work System to Handle Increased Workload
Employers to Temporarily Postpone or Ease Management Evaluations
Financial Authorities to Specify Exemptions in Eased Performance Evaluations and Financial Support Processes

Moon Sung-hyun, Chairman of the Economic, Social and Labor Council; Park Hong-bae, Chairman of the National Financial Industry Labor Union; Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission; Kim Tae-young, Chairman of the Financial Industry Employers Council (Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks); and Yoon Suk-heon, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (from left), are posing for a commemorative photo after signing the "Joint Declaration of Financial Labor, Management, and Government to Overcome the COVID-19 Crisis" on the 6th at the Bankers' Hall in Myeong-dong, Seoul. (Photo by Korea Federation of Banks)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Gang-wook] To support companies and small business owners affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the financial sector's management performance evaluation (KPI) will be postponed until the first half of this year. Additionally, special extended working hours will be permitted, and the introduction of flexible working systems will be promoted. Financial authorities plan to ease the management performance evaluations of financial public institutions and defer the management status evaluations of financial companies. In particular, labor and management have agreed to refrain from large-scale events and gatherings such as strikes and to actively cooperate in resolving workplace labor issues through dialogue and compromise.

On the 6th, the Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, Economic, Social and Labor Council, National Financial Industry Labor Union, and Financial Industry Employers' Council held a joint declaration titled "Joint Declaration of Labor, Management, and Government to Overcome the COVID-19 Crisis" at the Bankers' Hall in Myeong-dong, Seoul, announcing these measures. Following the joint declaration by financial labor and management on February 28, this time, additional measures such as permitting special extended working hours and reviewing temporary suspension or easing of management evaluations were included. Notably, the financial authorities explicitly stated in this declaration that unless there is intentional or gross negligence, no disadvantages will be imposed on institutions or individuals during the prompt and proactive handling of tasks by financial institution employees, which had been emphasized previously.

Moon Sung-hyun, Chairman of the Economic, Social and Labor Council, said, "A significant follow-up agreement has been reached in the financial industry," adding, "Since the financial labor and management, which are core sectors forming the foundation of our economy, have voluntarily united, we can take a further step toward overcoming the COVID-19 crisis."

Previously, financial labor and management agreed to efforts including △support for companies affected by COVID-19 △loan support such as interest-free repayment extensions or installment repayment deferrals and new loan supply for small business owners in difficulty △temporary rent reductions for real estate held by financial institutions △active participation in blood donation campaigns and allowing blood donation leave.

According to the newly agreed contents, the financial labor union will actively consider permitting exceptions for special extended working hours and introducing and utilizing flexible working systems according to each institution's situation to prepare for the surge in financial support tasks for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners. To this end, financial authorities plan to discuss within the government the temporary suspension of budget guidelines for financial public institutions.

Park Hong-bae, Chairman of the National Financial Industry Labor Union, said, "I hope that the financial labor, management, and government can be of some help in overcoming the COVID-19 crisis," and added, "The joint declaration by financial labor, management, and government to overcome this crisis holds great social significance."

Meanwhile, financial companies such as banks plan to temporarily (until the first half of the year) suspend or ease KPIs according to each institution's situation until COVID-19 stabilizes, and financial authorities will actively consider temporarily easing management performance evaluations of financial public institutions and deferring management status evaluations of financial companies.

In the financial sector, there have been calls to revise KPIs to suit the current situation, especially for banks and policy financial institutions executing COVID-19 loans worth 100 trillion won. Although the government has increased financial support for affected small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners, to translate this into effective financial support, an environment must be created that reduces operational burdens and allows focus on supporting affected companies.

Kim Tae-young, Chairman of the Financial Industry Employers' Council (Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks), expressed gratitude, saying, "I thank the members of the National Financial Industry Labor Union who willingly participated in overcoming the COVID-19 crisis," and emphasized, "If our financial labor, management, and government unite and work with one heart, we can fully overcome this crisis in a short time."

Meanwhile, the Financial Industry Employers' Council members participating in the joint declaration include 35 institutions such as commercial and regional banks, Korea Development Bank, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, Korea Asset Management Corporation, Korea Housing Finance Corporation, National Credit Union Federation of Korea, and Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute.

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