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Wed, December 11, 2019 | 20:53
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Gov't seeks to break public servants' 'iron rice bowl'
공무원연봉제 5급까지 확대…일못하면 연봉인상 '꿈'도 못꿔
Posted : 2015-12-09 16:08
Updated : 2015-12-09 19:14
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By Chung Ah-young

Civil servants have long been thought of as living with an "iron rice bowl," which means they enjoy job security and stable income.

Such a long tradition will be put to the test as the Ministry of Personnel Management (MPM) pushes ahead with reforms on civil service salaries and vacations.

Minister Lee Geun-myeon, a former Samsung Electronics executive who took office November 2014, vowed to revamp the civil service management system based on performance.

Lee's plan is in line with President Park Geun-hye's earlier pledge to reform the system based on performance and competence.

The MPM recently announced its intention to expand the performance-based incentive system ― which is now applied to high-ranking public servants ― to the rank and file beginning in 2017. By that time, the system will apply to 15.4 percent of civil servants, up from 4.5 percent now.

According to the MPM, the reforms will reduce the ratio of basic pay and instead increase the ratio of incentives.

The plan is designed to change the current pay system in which civil servants' wages rise automatically according to the number of years they have served.

"Under the current pay system, public servants are paid based solely on their years of service," Lee said. "But for the long term, we will revamp the system so their pay will be based on performance."

Also, the government will penalize those public servants ― even with dismissal ― who continue to receive poor evaluations without improvement.

The MPM plans to expand the reforms to include teachers at public schools, military personnel, firefighters, police and diplomats.

However, it remains to be seen if the plan can really change the civil service and break the iron rice bowl, as many public servants oppose it.

"The government only encourages performance, driving public servants into a corner," said the Confederation of Korean Government Employees' Unions.

"This performance-based system will likely be abused by the government to fire employees it doesn't want by its own arbitrary standards," it said.

A public servant who refused to be named added, "It is very hard to evaluate civil servants' performances, unlike other occupations such as business. Unacceptable evaluations may destroy our morale."


More vacation

The minister also has stressed that public servants should have longer vacations so that when they get back to work, they can better concentrate on their jobs.

Most public workers usually do not use the vacation time they are due. According to the ministry, the amount of leave taken by central government employees was 9.3 days per person last year.

To encourage long-term vacations, the ministry revised related rules, including the rule enabling public servants to save up their leave for as much as three years so that they can use that time for a 40-day vacation, for example.

Lee actually ordered officials at the ministry to take a year-end vacation after Dec. 25 by using their remaining leave to spend more time with their families.
But the union is skeptical about the plan.

"We welcome the encouragement for time off but we are skeptical of its intention which might reduce the government's spending on unused leave," it said.

The ministry said that it doesn't expect dramatic changes from the new salary and vacation measures among civil servants as a whole. "We will make the changes one by one, starting with the performance evaluation system," a ministry official said.



공무원연봉제 5급까지 확대…일못하면 연봉인상 '꿈'도 못꿔

혁신처, 직무·성과 중심 공무원 보수체계 개편방안 발표
기본연봉동결…실국장 임금상승분 3% 전액, 성과급 전환해 지급
내년 1급공무원 최대 1천800만원 격차…성과급비중 2020년까지 15%로

현재 일반직 4급 과장급 이상에만 적용되는 성과연봉제가 5급 이상으로 내년부터 점차 확대된다.

고위공무원의 경우 보수체계에 성과급 비중이 대폭 확대돼 업무 능력이 부족한 공무원은 연봉이 오르지 않게 된다.

인사혁신처는 7일 이 같은 내용을 담고 있는 직무와 성과 중심의 공무원 보수체계 개편 방안을 발표했다.

이번 방안은 호봉이 올라가면 임금도 자동적으로 올라가는 현행 공무원 보수 체계를 성과 중심으로 바꾸는 내용을 핵심으로 하고 있다.

혁신처는 성과연봉제를 중간관리자인 일반직 5급과 경찰·소방 등 특정직 관리자까지 확대하기로 했다.

혁신처는 내년에는 과장직을 받지 못한 4급 서기관과 5급 과장까지, 2017년부터는 5급 직원 전체로 확대한다.

현재는 일반직 4급 과장급 이상, 외무직·대학 교원 등 일부 직종이나 관리자를 중심으로 성과연봉제를 시행하고 있다.

성과연봉제가 확대되면 적용 대상은 2015년 4.5%에서 2017년 15.4%까지 확대된다.

혁신처는 특히 고위공무원에 대해서는 성과급을 대폭 확대한다.

실·국장급인 공무원에 대해서는 내년도 기본 연봉을 동결하고, 공무원 임금 상승분 3% 전액을 성과연봉으로 전환해 차등 지급하기로 했다.

이렇게 되면 업무성과가 좋으면 임금이 오르지만, 업무 성과에 있어서 최하위 등급인 '미흡'이나 '매우 미흡'을 받으면 보수가 오르지 않게 된다.

과장급의 경우에는 공무원 임금 상승분 3%의 절반 수준인 1.5%를 성과급 재원으로 활용할 방침이다.

혁신처는 또 고위공무원의 경우 현재 7% 수준인 성과급 비중을 2020년까지 2배 수준인 15%까지, 과장급의 경우 5%에서 10%까지 늘린다.

이렇게 되면 실장급(1급)의 경우 최고 등급과 최하 등급의 보수 차이가 현재 1천200만원에서 2016년 1천800만원까지, 국장급(2급)은 1천만원에서 1천500만원까지, 과장급(3급) 490만원에서 650만원까지 벌어지게 된다.

앞으로는 부처별 주요 국정과제나 핵심업무 등을 수행하는 직무의 경우에는 '중요직무'로 지정한 뒤 해당 공무원에 대해서는 보수를 올려주는 등 업무의 중요도 또는 난이도에 따라 보수도 차등 적용된다.

다만 지급 대상이나 지급액은 각 부처에서 자율적으로 정할 수 있도록 할 계획이다.

이밖에 경찰이나 소방 등 현장에 출동하는 일이 잦고, 위험한 업무를 수행해야 하는 공직자에 대해서는 우선적으로 보상할 계획이다.

장기적으로는 인사관리 방향을 장기근무형과 순환근무형 투 트랙으로 구분해 직무나 직책을 기준으로 보수를 결정하는 방향으로 보수제도를 전면 개편할 계획이다.

반면 최하위직인 일반직 9급의 초임 호봉(1∼5호봉)의 기본급은 인상하기로 했다.

공직에 처음 입문한 9급 1호봉의 임금 인상액은 26만원으로, 올해 공무원 전체 임금 인상률인 3%보다 높은 4.2% 수준이다.

혁신처는 올해 말까지 공무원 보수 규정과 공무원 수당 규정, 공무원 성과평가 규정을 개정하고, 내년부터 시행에 들어갈 계획이다. (연합뉴스)
Emailchungay@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter








 
 
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