'Public Servants and Teachers' Union Time-Off System' Passes Environment and Labor Committee Subcommittee (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The amendment bill to introduce the time-off system (paid leave for union officials) for public officials and teachers' unions passed the first hurdle in the National Assembly on the 4th. The time-off system refers to recognizing the union activities of full-time union officials of public officials and teachers' unions as paid working hours.

The National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee held a subcommittee on employment and labor law bills on the same day and approved the amendment to the Public Officials and Teachers' Union Act, which recognizes the labor-management negotiation duties of full-time union officials of public officials and teachers' unions as working hours and pays wages accordingly, as an alternative proposed by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

While both ruling and opposition parties have agreed on the necessity of the time-off system for public officials and teachers' unions, they differed on how to determine the scope of working hours exemption for full-time officials. The ruling party proposed to approve the bill first and then discuss the details through a separate institution, but the opposition insisted that since this involves taxpayers' money, an accurate cost estimate should be made during the bill amendment process. Accordingly, the bill, which began its first review on December 16 last year, failed to pass the subcommittee on December 18, 21, and 28 as well.

The alternative approved on this day stipulates that "the Public Officials Working Hours Exemption Deliberation Committee (Deliberation Committee) shall be established within the Economic, Social and Labor Council to set the limit for working hours exemption." The Deliberation Committee will deliberate and decide the exemption limit based on the minimum unit for establishing a labor union and may re-examine and decide on its appropriateness every three years.

The enforcement date of the amendment is set for one year and six months after the law is promulgated. The amendment will be finalized through procedures including the Environment and Labor Committee and the plenary session of the National Assembly. Both ruling and opposition parties, as well as presidential candidates from each party, support the time-off system.

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