"Overtime Reform? Isn't This Institutionalizing Overwork?"...Angry Public Officials Speak Out

Abolishing the Four-Hour Daily Cap
"The Only Change Is Allowing Longer Working Hours"

Abolishing the 100-Hour Monthly Cap for Urgent Issues
"Concerns over Unlimited Long Working Hours"

Extending the Overtime Quota Management System to Local Governments
"Same Budget, Internal Competition for Allowances"

Introducing an Overtime Compensation Allowance for Grade 4 Officials
"Partial Improvement, But Not Addressing Core Issues"

The government has decided to improve the payment system for overtime allowances for public officials, but the government employees' union is strongly opposed. The government plans to abolish the current daily overtime cap of four hours and the monthly cap of 100 hours for urgent matters, and instead recognize all actual overtime hours worked. However, the union has criticized the plan, arguing that it institutionalizes overwork by increasing allowable overtime hours while maintaining the current 50-60% allowance reduction rate for overtime pay.

On June 30, at the Government Complex Seoul, members of the Korean Government Employees' Union attending the first executive resolution meeting for wage increase demands shouted slogans demanding the raise of various allowances, including overtime pay. Korean Government Employees' Union

The Korean Government Employees' Union (KGEU) issued a statement on the 21st, criticizing the overtime system reform plan announced by the Ministry of Personnel Management and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as "not an improvement to working conditions, but a pathway to force civil servants to work longer hours and to pit workers against each other for limited overtime allowances within organizations. It is the worst kind of policy reversal."

The core of the government's reform plan is to relax the limits on overtime work. Previously, no more than four hours of overtime could be recognized per day, but the daily cap will now be abolished. However, the monthly cap of 57 hours will remain. The monthly 100-hour cap, previously applied in exceptional cases such as urgent issues, has also been abolished, so overtime beyond this can now be recognized if necessary, with no additional caps in place.

The government maintains that these measures are intended to better compensate for actual hours worked. In addition, public officials at grade 4 in national posts, not only department heads, will be paid an 'overtime compensation allowance' for any overtime beyond 25 hours per month. Previously, even if one was promoted to grade 4 and handled operational work before becoming a department head, they could not receive overtime pay as they were considered eligible for a management allowance instead.

However, the KGEU asserts that the government has not addressed the fundamental issue of low compensation for overtime work. Currently, overtime allowances for public officials are calculated by applying a 50-60% reduction rate to a standard amount determined by position, not actual hours worked. The union has demanded the abolition of this reduction rate, stating, "Even though civil servants work late into the night and come to work on weekends, they are compensated for only about half of the actual labor performed."

The KGEU criticized, "Rather than paying for all the hours actually worked, the government has simply lifted overtime limits to allow for longer working hours. This is an institutionalization of overwork, asking civil servants to continue working until they collapse, without proper compensation."

There is also strong opposition to the extension of the overtime quota management system to local governments. The government plans to incorporate a system for managing overtime hours and quotas at the institutional and departmental level into the electronic personnel management system for local officials, allowing local governments to operate it autonomously in accordance with the nature of their work.

However, the union argues that if the total overtime budget is not increased and only the quota is managed, this will simply create a system where staff compete internally for a limited pool of allowances. In other words, if the 'pie' stays the same while only total limits are set, departments or employees with more work could end up in competition with others for more overtime pay.

The KGEU stated, "The causes of overtime are not being addressed—namely, lack of manpower and excessive workloads. Instead, the government is fostering a situation where staff fight each other for a share of limited funds. This is nothing less than shifting the burden of manpower and budget issues, which the government should be responsible for, onto individual workers and departments."

The proposal to abolish the monthly cap of 100 hours during urgent matters is also controversial. The union has expressed concern that, while national disasters or emergencies should be exceptional cases, simply abolishing the overtime cap without increasing staffing or adjusting workloads could lead to any kind of work being labeled as an "urgent matter."

The KGEU is demanding the abolition of the reduction rate for overtime allowances, the abolition of both the self-directed working hour system and the overtime quota system, the withdrawal of the plan to expand these measures to local officials, a reconsideration of the abolition of the four-hour daily and 100-hour monthly (in urgent matters) overtime caps, as well as the expansion of staffing and the guarantee of fair compensation for labor.

The KGEU emphasized, "The government must clearly answer: is it genuinely trying to improve the treatment of public officials, or is it simply pushing them to work longer hours until they collapse from overwork? We will continue to fight so that all public officials who bear responsibility for the safety of the nation, its people, and government administration can receive their full due compensation and work in healthy conditions."

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