Application of Statute of Limitations on Seniority Correction for Fixed-Term Teachers... Human Rights Commission: "Discrimination Against Regular Teachers"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has ruled that when retroactively paying wages underpaid due to step corrections to fixed-term teachers, the statute of limitations should not be applied in the same way as for regular teachers.

On the 7th, the NHRCK stated, "The statute of limitations should not be applied when retroactively paying wages underpaid due to step corrections to fixed-term teachers," and recommended to the Minister of Education and others that "the Ministry of Education take measures to improve related policies and systems to prevent discrimination between fixed-term and regular teachers when retroactively paying underpaid wages."

According to the NHRCK, complainant A, a fixed-term teacher, received retroactive payment last year after a step correction was made. However, unlike regular teachers, only wages for three years from the step correction date were paid, applying the three-year statute of limitations for wage claims. A then filed a complaint with the NHRCK.

The competent education office explained, "Payment was made according to the city education office’s contract teacher operation guidelines, which state that for fixed-term teachers, retroactive payment is limited to three years upon step correction." The Ministry of Education responded, "According to Supreme Court rulings, fixed-term teachers are not considered educational or national public officials like regular teachers and are not subject to the wage system applied for step increments," adding, "It is reasonable to pay only the underpaid wages for the past three years."

However, the NHRCK judged, "The non-application of the statute of limitations for claims of underpaid amounts due to step corrections for regular teachers assumes that the step determination error was discovered afterward," and noted, "It is difficult to prove that teachers were aware of the step determination error during the period from the step appointment date to the step correction date." Furthermore, the NHRCK added, "Applying a three-year statute of limitations to claims of underpaid amounts by fixed-term teachers implies that fixed-term teachers knew of the step determination error during the three years prior to the step correction date but did not exercise their rights, resulting in expiration of the claim, which is difficult to justify."

Additionally, the NHRCK stated, "According to the State Finance Act, the statute of limitations for monetary amounts that the state must retroactively pay is five years," and concluded, "Considering comprehensively that the statute of limitations is not applied to regular teachers, applying it to fixed-term teachers constitutes discriminatory conduct infringing on the right to equality."

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