Starting next year, fixed-term workers employed in Korea's public sector for less than one year will receive a "fairness allowance" similar to severance pay. The government plans to reduce unstable employment practices in the public sector by prohibiting, in principle, fixed-term contracts of less than one year and ultra-short-term contracts of less than 15 hours per week.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said Tuesday that it reported the "Measures to Improve Treatment of Non-Regular Workers in the Public Sector" containing these details at a Cabinet meeting.
Under the measures, the fairness allowance to be introduced next year is a system that pays fixed-term workers employed for less than one year a flat rate of 8.5 to 10 percent of the average living wage, differentiated by contract duration. The average living wage is calculated as 118 percent of the annually determined minimum wage. The payment rate rises as the contract period shortens.
The government will also strengthen management to reduce unstable employment alongside the allowance payments. Going forward, fixed-term contracts of less than one year and ultra-short-term contracts of less than 15 hours per week will be prohibited in principle in the public sector. Institutions that unavoidably need to enter into such contracts must undergo a prior review process involving outside personnel. "The public sector must set an example by correcting unfair employment practices for non-regular workers and taking the lead in reasonable improvements to their treatment," Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said.
