Human Rights Commission Rules Excluding Permanent Workers from Staggered Work Hours Is Discriminatory

"Attendance Management Methods Are the Same for Civil Servants and Permanent Workers"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has determined that it is discriminatory for local governments to exclude permanent workers from the staggered work hour system.

National Human Rights Commission of Korea, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

On March 19, the Commission announced that it had recommended the head of the local government—which had only applied the staggered work hour system to civil servants—to improve the system so that permanent workers could also utilize flexible working arrangements such as the staggered work hour system, as long as it did not interfere with their work. Unlike civil servants, permanent workers are employees governed by the Labor Standards Act and are directly employed by local governments or similar entities to perform regular work duties.

Previously, a visiting nurse employed by the local government filed a complaint, arguing that it was unfair for permanent workers to be excluded from the staggered work hour system while civil servants were allowed to use it. In response, the local government stated that visiting nurses primarily perform fieldwork, resulting in a different work pattern from civil servants, making it difficult to apply the system.

However, the Commission found that, despite differences in job content, the method of attendance management is essentially the same. It noted that if the existing system for civil servants is utilized as is, it can easily be extended to permanent workers without significant operational difficulty. In particular, for the "fixed-type staggered work hour system," which allows for about an hour adjustment in start and end times, work hours can be adjusted to fit visit schedules, thereby improving both work efficiency and service quality.

The Commission also cited the fact that the current Labor Standards Act and guidelines from the Ministry of Employment and Labor allow the staggered work hour system to be applied to various job types, and stipulate that its application should be determined by employment contracts or labor-management agreements.

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