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The National Human Rights Commission of Korea in Seoul. / Photo via Asia Today

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has ruled that a public health center's decision to notify a fixed-term public official of her contract termination after she disclosed her plans to take parental leave constitutes discrimination, recommending a fair re-evaluation.

According to the NHRCK on May 26, a part-time, fixed-term public official, referred to as Person A, at the Michuhol-gu Public Health Center in Incheon, shared her intent to take parental leave following her maternity leave in July last year. In response, she was informed that extending her contract would be difficult due to her planned parental leave.

Person A went on maternity leave starting August 3 of that year, only to have her contract terminated on October 15 while still on leave. Believing that the non-renewal based on her parental leave was unjust, she filed a petition with the NHRCK.

The Michuhol-gu District Office contended that the contract termination was not triggered by her plans for maternity and parental leave, but was instead due to her routine work attitude and friction during collaborative work, which had drawn complaints from colleagues.

However, an investigation revealed that Person A had disclosed her parental leave plans during a personal interview prior to her performance evaluation, and all evaluating supervisors made remarks indicating that contract renewal would be difficult because of the leave. The respondents were confirmed to have said things such as, "The parental leave is the problem. We cannot even hire a replacement worker because the budget items are different," "It is unreasonable for the majority to bear hardships for the sake of one person," and "The vacancy from childbirth will become too long if you take parental leave as well."

The NHRCK’s Discrimination Remedy Committee concluded that Person A's plans to take parental leave had influenced her performance evaluation. The committee noted that she had already received a notice regarding the expiration of her appointment period before the actual performance evaluation was conducted. Furthermore, despite evaluating her performance over similar periods, there was a glaring disparity between her salary-step evaluation score and her re-appointment evaluation score.

The NHRCK recommended that the Head of the Michuhol-gu District Office convene a review committee that includes external members to conduct a fair re-evaluation of the petitioner. It also urged the district to establish preventative measures to ensure that no employment disadvantages occur in the future due to the use of maternity or parental leave.

                                                                                                             Kim Tae-hoon