The government has taken steps to address the unfair leave policies faced by airline cabin crew members. Some airlines have been found to penalize crew members for taking leave due to illness and require a medical certificate even when annual leave, not sick leave, is used. There have also been cases where airlines required crew to apply for annual leave 40 days in advance.

According to materials submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Jooyoung on August 11, Eastar Jet reflects cases where cabin crew are unable to perform their duties due to illness or injury after flight schedules have been finalized in their personnel evaluations.

Flight schedules are generally set a month in advance, so if a crew member unexpectedly becomes unable to work during this period, they face disadvantages in personnel evaluations. However, injuries sustained while on duty, procedures following health checkups and test results, and leave due to infectious diseases of grade 2 or higher are not reflected in evaluations.

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At Air Busan, if a cabin crew member uses sick leave or annual leave on the day of duty, this is reflected in their work evaluation. However, if it is recognized that taking leave was unavoidable, it is not reflected in the evaluation.

Additionally, domestic airlines require cabin crew to submit supporting documents when applying for sick leave due to illness or injury, even though annual leave is used first. Even when the leave is processed as paid annual leave rather than sick leave, documents such as medical certificates or proof of hospital visits must be submitted.

An industry official stated, "If several crew members suddenly use annual leave without a specific reason, it could disrupt flight operations," and added, "To ensure adherence to promised flight schedules with customers and maintain stable operations, it is necessary to manage the degree to which crew members fulfill their flight duty schedules."

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Cabin crew members argue that these leave policies are unreasonable. One crew member, who requested anonymity, said, "Due to irregular shifts and time zone changes, the work is demanding and it's impossible to always be in perfect health. Since we are not machines, we cannot predict when we will get sick, so it is unfair to be penalized for taking sick leave." Another crew member commented, "If annual leave has already been used, whether or not someone visited a hospital should be considered a private matter."

In response, the Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to continue administrative guidance to improve unfair leave policies in the airline industry. A ministry official stated, "It is not appropriate to impose disadvantages in personnel evaluations for using sick leave," and added, "Although labor and management have agreed to use annual leave before sick leave, requiring supporting documents such as medical certificates for annual leave may constitute a violation of the Labor Standards Act."

Eastar Jet stated, "We are reviewing changes to our system so that leave is not reflected in personnel evaluations," and added, "We plan to implement the revised policy within this week."

Eastar Jet aircraft.

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Air Busan aircraft. Photo by Air Busan

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Previously, Air Busan, which had received administrative guidance, eased its annual leave application deadline from "40 days in advance" to "1 day in advance" starting last month. The airline also established a recruitment plan for cabin crew (82 positions planned) to create conditions for more flexible leave use.

The Busan Regional Employment and Labor Office under the Ministry of Employment and Labor recently sent an 'Administrative Guidance on the Use of Annual Paid Leave' to Air Busan, stating, "We have received complaints that claiming annual paid leave is not free." They added, "Except in cases where business operations are severely disrupted, please ensure labor management is thorough so that employees can freely use their leave and no legal violations occur."

Lawmaker Kim stated, "The practice of effectively penalizing airline workers for being sick threatens their right to health and rest, and this remains a serious issue. In the field, the structure where 'you can't rest even when you're sick' still persists." He continued, "Protecting the lives of working people is the duty of politics. I will do my utmost to improve laws and systems so that all workers can fully enjoy their right to work in good health."