Seoul City Guarantees Childcare Teachers' Vacation Rights... Supports Hiring of 'Seoul-Type Full-Time Teachers'

Expanded Paid Leave Guarantee through Labor Standards Act Amendment... Reducing Workload to Create Quality Work Environment

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 10th that it will support the recruitment of ‘Seoul-type Full-time Teachers’ so that childcare teachers at daycare centers can take legally guaranteed paid leave without burden.

‘Seoul-type Full-time Teachers’ are regular staff who reside at daycare centers, assist childcare teachers as assistant teachers during normal times, and act as homeroom teachers when childcare teachers are on paid leave. In the case of daycare center childcare teachers, there is not enough spare personnel to substitute for their duties, and to fill the childcare gap caused by leave, a separate request for substitute teachers must be made, which greatly restricted the free use of leave.

Seoul City aims to create a working environment where childcare teachers can be guaranteed their personal paid leave, following the amendment of the Labor Standards Act that expanded the application of public holidays as paid holidays to workplaces with five or more employees starting this year. The workload of childcare teachers is also expected to be significantly reduced.

Additionally, by minimizing childcare gaps, the quality of childcare can be improved to provide children with a stable childcare environment. Unlike substitute teachers who children have to adapt to each time they are dispatched, ‘Seoul-type Full-time Teachers’ reside at the daycare center, allowing them to build a stable bond with the children.

Seoul City will publicly recruit daycare centers located in Seoul, including national/public, Seoul-type, private, and home daycare centers, to participate in the ‘Seoul-type Full-time Teacher’ pilot project from the 16th to the 24th. Daycare centers wishing to participate in the project can submit an application form and plan to the relevant district office.

Seoul City plans to prioritize daycare centers with five or more regular employees that have a large number of children in care, many highly experienced teachers, and have actively supported teachers’ use of annual leave. A total of 140 daycare centers will be selected, with 5 to 6 centers per district.

Selected daycare centers will receive personnel cost support to hire ‘Seoul-type Full-time Teachers’ starting in March. A total budget of 2.826 billion KRW will be invested. After hiring a ‘Seoul-type Full-time Teacher,’ the daycare center can apply for personnel cost support from the relevant district office.

Seoul City plans to expand the number of supported centers annually through the ‘Seoul-type Full-time Teacher’ pilot project this year. The goal is to support up to 1,500 centers with ‘Seoul-type Full-time Teachers’ by 2025.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Seoul City Women and Family Policy Office, said, “Seoul City is the first in the nation to support resident non-homeroom teachers. We will guarantee childcare teachers’ right to leave to create a quality working environment and provide a familiar childcare environment to children even when homeroom teachers use annual leave, helping stable emotional development.”

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