"Half Cut in Employee Travel Expenses Regulation"... Protest by Ministry of SMEs and Startups Union

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has reportedly announced a guideline to pay employees' travel expenses at less than half of the regulated amount. The ministry's public officials' union has opposed this and immediately issued a statement urging a reconsideration.

On the 13th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups Public Officials' Union stated, "The ministry announced a 'travel expense reduction guideline' to pay travel expenses at less than half of the regulated amount," adding, "We condemn the ministry for creating baseless guidelines, forcing compliance, and not providing fair compensation."

The union said, "All employees of the ministry are having a relentlessly busy 2023," and "They have been engaging with global markets to pioneer new markets for SMEs and startups, and everyone is working together on-site to carry out core missions, including the Together Festival and the establishment of a linked payment system for delivery fees."

They continued, "As a field-oriented ministry, a lot of communication is necessary to achieve results, and the ministry actually demands this," but pointed out, "Nevertheless, we are in an ironic situation where normal travel expense payments are difficult, so we are being told to refrain from business trips."

Furthermore, they criticized, "The approach of 'just follow the decision' is undesirable, and decisions made without the consent and understanding of members cannot be respected," adding, "We cannot help but ask whether the minister and vice minister of the ministry desire unilateralism and verticality as a way of running the institution, and whether they chose this method."

They questioned, "Is it really convincing to limit employees' travel expenses while the head of the institution uses the highest grade rooms and seats and applies the upper limit of travel expense execution standards?" and demanded an immediate reconsideration of the guideline.

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