By Kim Rahn
The government will encourage public servants to refrain from working overtime and use all their paid vacation days to strike a work-life balance, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.
It expects the measure for public workers to spread to private sector employees, who are notorious for having to work long hours and taking short holidays.
It has been one of President Moon Jae-in's policy goals since his election campaign to create a work environment where employees do not perform unnecessary overtime work and can take all their paid vacation days. With an aim to achieve this during his five-year term, his office decided to create that environment for the public sector first.
"For the goal of work-life balance, the President and his aides agreed the government should take the initiative as an exemplary employer," presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said after a regular meeting of Moon and his secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae.
"The government plans to limit the total time of overwork a public servant can do for an entire year, improve current work systems which force the workers to perform overtime, and encourage them to use all their vacation days," he said.
As public organizations can reduce their budget if they don't need to pay for the workers' unused days off, they will be able to use the money to hire more employees, according to the spokesman.
"We will announce detailed plans next month after discussions with state organizations," he said.
Specifically for the presidential office where staffers have to work virtually around the clock to cover state affairs, Cheong Wa Dae will set up its own internal guidelines, Park said. "We will encourage workers here to use at least 70 percent of their paid leave, using their vacation days especially around holidays or year-end. Every Wednesday will be named family day and workers will be urged to go home at 6 p.m. sharp."
Those who use all their vacation days and go home early on family days will get better evaluations and more bonuses, he added.
Regarding Moon's own leave, it was initially said he has 21 days of vacation this year based on a rule for public officials, as he previously served as a public official for more than six years. But Park said he has 14 days because he started his term in May, not from the start of the year.
Moon promised to use all his vacation days -- he took a day off to visit his home in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, several days after his inauguration, and took five days for a summer holiday in early August.
The government will encourage public servants to refrain from working overtime and use all their paid vacation days to strike a work-life balance, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.
It expects the measure for public workers to spread to private sector employees, who are notorious for having to work long hours and taking short holidays.
It has been one of President Moon Jae-in's policy goals since his election campaign to create a work environment where employees do not perform unnecessary overtime work and can take all their paid vacation days. With an aim to achieve this during his five-year term, his office decided to create that environment for the public sector first.
"For the goal of work-life balance, the President and his aides agreed the government should take the initiative as an exemplary employer," presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said after a regular meeting of Moon and his secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae.
"The government plans to limit the total time of overwork a public servant can do for an entire year, improve current work systems which force the workers to perform overtime, and encourage them to use all their vacation days," he said.
As public organizations can reduce their budget if they don't need to pay for the workers' unused days off, they will be able to use the money to hire more employees, according to the spokesman.
"We will announce detailed plans next month after discussions with state organizations," he said.
Specifically for the presidential office where staffers have to work virtually around the clock to cover state affairs, Cheong Wa Dae will set up its own internal guidelines, Park said. "We will encourage workers here to use at least 70 percent of their paid leave, using their vacation days especially around holidays or year-end. Every Wednesday will be named family day and workers will be urged to go home at 6 p.m. sharp."
Those who use all their vacation days and go home early on family days will get better evaluations and more bonuses, he added.
Regarding Moon's own leave, it was initially said he has 21 days of vacation this year based on a rule for public officials, as he previously served as a public official for more than six years. But Park said he has 14 days because he started his term in May, not from the start of the year.
Moon promised to use all his vacation days -- he took a day off to visit his home in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, several days after his inauguration, and took five days for a summer holiday in early August.
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