Seoul Metropolitan Government requests reconsideration of 'rights-centered public jobs' ordinance

City says job duty standards must be clarified and program operations reviewed

Concerns raised over mandatory budget obligations tied to specific project expansion

Park Kyung-seok, co-chair of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, performs a prostration protest on the subway to demand the Seoul city government comply with an ordinance calling for the restoration of rights-centered public jobs for people with disabilities. [Yonhap]
Park Kyung-seok, co-chair of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, performs a prostration protest on the subway to demand the Seoul city government comply with an ordinance calling for the restoration of rights-centered public jobs for people with disabilities. [Yonhap]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday it had formally requested the Seoul Metropolitan Council on Wednesday to reconsider a recently passed amendment to the city ordinance on promoting employment and supporting vocational rehabilitation for people with disabilities. The amendment, pushed by the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination — a national advocacy group known by its Korean acronym Jeonjangnyeon — was passed by the full council last month with the Democratic Party leading the vote.

Rights-centered public jobs are positions created for people with disabilities who are excluded from the regular labor market, offering work in areas such as rights advocacy, arts and culture, and disability awareness. The program was introduced in July 2020 under then-Mayor Park Won-soon but was discontinued in late 2023 after Mayor Oh Se-hoon took office.

The city said it needs to reconsider the amendment because of unresolved legal and administrative issues, including the lack of clear job duty standards and the mandatory expansion and support of a specific program.

The amendment defines "rights-centered public jobs" and requires the city to include the development, distribution and expansion of such positions in its planning. It also mandates coordination with independent living support centers and lifelong education facilities for people with severe disabilities who are either economically inactive or not subject to the minimum wage. The amendment was introduced Aug. 10 and passed by the full council on Sept. 11.

"Since these are jobs funded by public money, clear standards are needed for what activities count as job duties," the city said. "The amendment designates activities such as disability awareness, arts and culture, and rights advocacy as job duties, but does not specify the concrete scope or criteria for what constitutes 'rights advocacy.'"

The city went on to say that without clear guidelines on whether activities such as campaign participation and rally attendance qualify as public job duties, disputes could arise over whether protests that inconvenience residents fall within the scope of public funding.

The track record of the previous program also factored into the reconsideration request. During the city's operation of the rights-centered customized public jobs program for people with severe disabilities from 2020 to 2023, concerns were raised about an imbalance in the types of activities performed.

An operational review conducted in 2023 found that rallies, demonstrations and campaign-related activities accounted for half — 50.4 percent — of all job duties logged by participants from 2020 to 2022. The city said it needs to review job duty standards and operational procedures to prevent such imbalances from recurring.

The city also said Article 7-2 of the amendment, which mandates support for people with severe disabilities who are economically inactive or not subject to the minimum wage, could constrain the mayor's discretion in budget allocation. The provision requires the mayor to "implement" coordination with independent living support centers and lifelong education facilities for people with disabilities "within the scope of the budget."

The city cited the ordinance's mandatory requirements for expanding and funding a specific jobs program as another reason for the reconsideration request. "The direction, scale and implementation of employment policy should be determined by taking into account the employment environment, the nature of each disability, and program outcomes," the city said.

The city also said the amendment needs to more clearly explain how the designated job duties connect to the goals of employment promotion and vocational rehabilitation under the higher-level law, the Act on the Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities. It said the content and operational standards for duties such as outreach and rights advocacy should be made explicit so that participants can gain genuine work experience and move toward greater independence.

"We hope the council will take another look at the issues surrounding job duty standards, program implementation, and budget and spending authority, so that public jobs can genuinely benefit participants and operate with the trust of the public," said Jeong Jin-woo, the city's welfare director.


ikson@heraldcorp.com