Human Rights Commission: "Excluding Non-Regular Work Experience Constitutes Discriminatory Practice"

"Recommendation to Amend Regulations"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recommended revising regulations to prevent recurrence regarding a hospital director who did not recognize work experience as a non-regular employee during hiring.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the NHRCK on the 27th, the complainant, who is the chairman of the labor union, filed a complaint stating that victims such as nurses, clinical pathologists, and occupational therapists hired as experienced staff at the hospital were not recognized for their non-regular employment experience at other hospitals before joining during the salary step determination process.

In response, the respondent argued that whether to recognize prior work experience before hiring is at the discretion of the hiring authority, and considering the differences in hiring procedures between regular and contract employees as well as the scope of duties and authority granted to contract workers, excluding contract work experience from salary step determination was a legitimate personnel right.

However, the NHRCK judged that it is inappropriate to determine recognition of work experience solely based on the formal factor of employment type, and that nurses, clinical pathologists, and occupational therapists are professionals performing specialized tasks with specific licenses, making it difficult to find grounds that differences in hiring routes affect job expertise or proficiency.

An NHRCK official stated, "Excluding contract work experience during salary step determination exceeded the discretion of the hiring authority and was deemed discriminatory conduct infringing on the right to equality," and added, "the NHRCK recommended that the respondents not exclude contract work experience when determining employee salary steps."

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