Seoul City and Autonomous Districts Begin Improving Treatment for COVID-19 Nursing and Public Health Officials... 43% Wage Increase for Home Care Nurses

Preventing Medical Gaps Due to Reduced Work Motivation from Pay Disparities, Relative Deprivation, and Work Avoidance
4 Million KRW Reward per Person for 1,250 Autonomous District COVID-19 Dedicated Nursing and Health Officials

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and 25 autonomous districts are taking steps to improve the treatment of dedicated personnel who have been struggling with long-term heavy workloads on the front lines of COVID-19 prevention.

On the 5th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and 25 autonomous districts announced the implementation of the "COVID-19 Response Autonomous District Dedicated Personnel Treatment Improvement Support Plan," which includes ▲payment of bonuses and preferential treatment in promotion reviews for autonomous district dedicated personnel ▲wage increases for temporary nurses in home treatment ▲expansion of on-site personnel such as retired medical staff and temporary workers.

This support plan was prepared in response to the intensified phenomena of work avoidance and leave in medical sites due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and the surge in confirmed cases, aiming to boost morale and prevent medical gaps by improving the treatment of dedicated personnel. It was developed following active improvement requests from autonomous district mayors who lead the prevention sites such as screening clinics, epidemiological investigations, and home treatment.

First, public officials who have diligently performed COVID-19 response dedicated duties such as screening clinics, epidemiological investigations, and life treatment centers for more than 10 months will receive a bonus of 4 million KRW per person. The main targets are nursing and health public officials, with about 50 people per autonomous district, totaling 1,250 grade 7 or lower practical public officials. Bonuses will be awarded in January or June of this year, depending on the period of service.

In particular, nursing and health public officials working at autonomous district COVID-19 sites since the outbreak will be given preferential treatment by increasing the promotion rate. Following the increase in promotion rates in autonomous districts after the COVID-19 outbreak, promotions for frontline COVID-19 workers were further expanded in the promotion review announced last December.

Temporary nurses in home treatment will receive a 43% wage increase to a level similar to epidemiological investigators (nurses) performing similar duties. Despite working 24-hour shifts providing telephone guidance, health management, and emergency patient transport requests for confirmed patients under home treatment, their wage levels were relatively low. Monthly salaries for nursing personnel are approximately 8 million KRW (410,000 KRW/day) for Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters nurses, 5.2 million KRW for epidemiological investigators (nurses), 3.53 million KRW for temporary nurses in home treatment, and 2.8 million KRW for nursing public officials.

Additional personnel will be deployed to sites experiencing manpower shortages. A platform for COVID-19 medical personnel will be established within the Seoul Job Portal to support matching retired medical personnel, such as nurses with career breaks, who are willing to work. A medical personnel support system will be established to enable immediate deployment to sites in need through cooperation with the Korean Nurses Association and university nursing departments.

A total of 626 temporary medical personnel will also be increased. Priority will be given to adding personnel in high-fatigue and urgently needed areas such as epidemiological investigations, home treatment, and screening clinics within the COVID-19 response fields.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, “The dedicated response personnel who have devoted themselves on the front lines of prevention during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic are the unsung heroes who have protected the safety of citizens. I deeply thank them,” and added, “I hope this treatment improvement support plan will alleviate some of the difficulties on the ground. We will continue to provide wholehearted support by mobilizing all possible means together with autonomous districts. We will do our best to boost the morale of frontline response personnel and create a safe Seoul from COVID-19.”

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