NHRC Issues Recommendation that Fixed-Term Contract Teachers be Paid during Vacation and Receive Severance Pay
Charging that “nonpayment of vacation pay and severance pay for reason of status as a contract teacher constitutes discriminatory conduct,” contract teacher A and two others petitioned a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against the principals of the schools where they worked, the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education, and the Minster of Education and Human Resources Development. Regarding this case, the Commission issued a recommendation to the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education and the principals of the related school to stop discriminatory and disadvantageous treatment against fixed-term contract teachers vis-à-vis regular, permanent teachers and to pay contract teachers vacation pay and severance pay.
Teacher A, 38 and a school nurse and public health teacher at a middle school located in Yangju district of Gyeonggi Province, was not paid any wages during vacation. The school responded that it did not pay those wages because during the vacation period, the students hardly ever came to school and thus, there was no need for a school nurse and public health teacher to come to work. However, the Commission found that such teachers working on a fixed-term contract—just as school nurse and public health teachers working as permanent, regular employees—needed to use the school vacation period to prepare new teaching material and plan coursework for students in the upcoming semester, and recharge; thus, the Commission found that nonpayment of vacation wages constituted discriminatory treatment without reasonable cause and issued the recommendation to the middle school to pay teacher A back wages for the vacation period.
Teacher B, a fixed-term contract teacher at a primary school located in Goyang City, and teacher C, 46 and a fixed-term contract teacher at a high school in Gunpo City, were given contracts dating from 2 March 2002 to 28 February 2003 and subsequently denied severance pay for reason that their fixed-term contracts were one day shy of a year. Regarding their discrimination complaint, the Commission issued a recommendation to the relevant school principals to provide severance pay. The schools responded that they were under no obligation to pay severance pay as article 34 of the Labor Standards Act stipulates that severance pay must be given to persons working for at least a year; however, the Commission found that even though on the surface it would appear that the contract term did not exceed one year, that in fact one must view this case as teachers working for one year because the first day of each semester should be counted.
This is the first time the NHRC issued a remunerative recommendation dealing with vacation wages and severance pay. In the future, the NHRC plans to heighten the real effectiveness of recommendations through issuing not only stop orders but also measures of the type that raise the offender’s sensitivity to human rights while offering relief to the victims of human rights and discrimination cases.
On the one hand, the Commission recognized that disadvantaging fixed-term contract teachers vis-à-vis regular permanent teachers constitutes discriminatory conduct infringing the right of equality while on the other hand, the Commission issued recommendations to the principals of the schools involved, the superintendent of schools, and the Minister of Education and Human Resources Development to cease discriminatory treatment against fixed-term contract teachers and to reform the administrative rules sand operational guidelines. In turn, the Education and Human Resources Development Ministry prepared a draft revision of the operational guidelines regarding fixed-term contract teachers and has greatly reformed the rules and discriminatory practices against fixed-term contract teachers.
