Exclusive: Ministry of Employment and Labor staff took only a third of their annual leave last year, data show

Senior civil servants at the Ministry of Employment and Labor — the agency responsible for protecting workers' right to rest and promoting work-life balance — used only 30 to 40 percent of their allotted annual leave last year, newly released data show.

Grade-3 officials used roughly one-third of their entitled leave, while senior civil servants came in below 40 percent. Leave usage rates fell across all grades compared with the previous year, and the total payout in unused-leave compensation exceeded 1.8 billion won ($1.34 million).

According to data the ministry submitted to the National Assembly on Sunday, Grade-3 civil servants recorded the lowest annual leave usage rate among general-service staff last year, at 35.34 percent. Senior civil servants used 38.68 percent of their leave, and Grade-4 officials used 49.69 percent — meaning every managerial grade used less than half of its allotted leave. The usage rate measures the share of leave days generated in a given year that were actually taken that year.

Grade-5 and Grade-6 officials also fell short, at 53.45 percent and 53.39 percent respectively. Grade-7 came in at 59.81 percent, Grade-8 at 70.19 percent, and Grade-9 at 73.53 percent. The gap between Grade-3 and Grade-9 usage rates reached 38.19 percentage points.

However, the number of leave days allocated differs by grade. Last year, the average annual leave entitlement was 20.13 days for senior civil servants, 20.33 days for Grade-3, 20.07 days for Grade-4, 20.88 days for Grade-5, 21.04 days for Grade-6, 20.12 days for Grade-7, 17.64 days for Grade-8, and 11.57 days for Grade-9. Grade-9 officials, who posted the highest usage rate, were also entitled to fewer days than their counterparts in higher grades.

All eight grades covered in the data saw their leave usage rates decline from the previous year. Grade-3 fell 11.10 percentage points, from 46.44 percent in 2024 to 35.34 percent last year. Senior civil servants dropped 8.62 percentage points over the same period, from 47.30 percent to 38.68 percent. Grade-4 slipped from 51.87 percent to 49.69 percent, and Grade-5 from 57.34 percent to 53.45 percent.

The number of employees who took none of their current-year leave also rose. Staff who used no leave in the year it was granted increased from 167 in 2023 and 170 in 2024 to 240 last year — a year-on-year increase of 41.2 percent.

However, those employees may have taken leave drawn from previously accumulated balances rather than their current-year entitlement. The ministry said it cannot extract statistics on whether saved leave was used or break down the figures by grade for employees who took no current-year leave. Employees whose actual working days were insufficient to generate any leave entitlement — due to unpaid leave or similar circumstances — were excluded from the count.

The total unused-leave compensation payout rose from 1.66 billion won in 2024 to 1.8 billion won last year, an increase of 146.74 million won, or 8.9 percent. The number of recipients grew by 69, from 5,655 to 5,724, over the same period.

By grade, Grade-7 received the largest share of last year's payout at 590.18 million won, followed by Grade-6 at 536.89 million won and Grade-5 at 297.69 million won. Because the number of staff varies by grade, total payout figures alone do not allow a direct comparison of individual compensation levels.

As of the end of August this year, leave usage rates stood at 26.62 percent for senior civil servants and 24.44 percent for Grade-3 officials. The number of employees who had yet to use any of their current-year leave was 893. Because the year-end leave period has not yet passed, these mid-year figures are not directly comparable to last year's full-year numbers. This year's unused-leave compensation also reflects only the 39.35 million won paid out to 169 employees who left mid-year; compensation for current staff is disbursed once a year, based on the Dec. 31 balance.

The low leave usage rates among ministry staff have become a recurring topic at parliamentary audits.

Earlier, an analysis of 2022 leave data across 18 ministries, released in April 2023 by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Su-jin, found that the Ministry of Employment and Labor had the highest rate of unused leave among the agencies surveyed, at 46.8 percent. Staff were granted an average of 18.44 days but used only 9.81 days.