Dongdaemun-gu, Manual Revision and Training to Strengthen Grievance Handling Capabilities

Since 2019, Dongdaemun-gu has produced its own ‘Grievance Civil Petition Handling Manual’ and updated it this year to reflect revised laws and regulations.

On the 16th, practical experience in handling grievance civil petitions was shared to provide competency training for staff members.

Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) has revamped the ‘Grievance Civil Petition Handling Manual for Employees’ and conducted a ‘Competency Enhancement Training for Civil Petition Officers’ using the manual on the 16th.

Since 2019, the district has organized frequently used contents from numerous regulations related to civil petition handling and established its own standards for matters not stipulated in higher laws, producing and utilizing the ‘Grievance Civil Petition Handling Manual’ to help employees process petitions quickly and accurately.

In late July, the district revised the manual to incorporate amendments to relevant higher laws such as the Civil Petition Handling Act and to improve contents that were difficult to apply in practice.

In addition to content changes, related information was added to guide employees on parts prone to errors during work processing.

The newly distributed ‘Grievance Civil Petition Handling Manual’ as of August 1 this year includes comprehensive information on grievance civil petition handling such as ▲terms and concepts related to grievance civil petitions ▲petition processing periods ▲points to be cautious about in practice ▲definition and infringement cases of personal information protection ▲processing procedures and precautions for each petition reception system ▲operation of the Civil Petition Mediation Committee ▲introduction of a special petition counseling manual, and more.

Based on the revised manual, on the 16th, a ‘Competency Enhancement Training for Civil Petition Officers’ was held at the district office’s Planning Situation Room. To deliver content necessary for petition handling from the employees’ perspective, a fellow employee served as the instructor.

During the training, comprehensive information on grievance civil petition handling and guidelines for telephone and in-person counseling responses were provided. To further guide employees on handling malicious petitions, the ‘Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Civil Servant Petition Response Manual’ and the ‘Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s Special Petition Response Manual’ were also introduced.

Notably, Mayor Lee Pil-hyung of Dongdaemun-gu attended the training to encourage the staff (photo).

The mayor stated, “There are petitions that cannot be persuaded even when handled fairly. Carefully reviewing relevant regulations and situations to clearly explain what is possible and impossible at the early stage of petition handling also helps resolve petitions. I worry that despite various efforts, employees may still be hurt by malicious petitions. Our district operates psychological counseling programs to support employees’ mental health. These programs are available in various forms, from non-face-to-face counseling via mobile phones to visits to professional centers, and counseling contents are strictly protected. I hope employees use these services whenever they are struggling and take good care of their mental health.”

A Dongdaemun-gu official said, “There have been many changes in regulations related to petition handling, so we reflected the updated contents and reviewed impractical matters to reorganize the work manual. We hope the improved manual and today’s competency training on grievance civil petition handling will be very helpful to our employees.”

In April this year, Dongdaemun-gu received the President’s Award, the highest honor, in the ‘2022 Comprehensive Evaluation of Civil Petition Services’ jointly hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

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