Protecting Parental Rights: 청주시의회 Calls for Standards Against Discrimination in Promotions

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The Public — Reporter Oh Hong-ji: Councilor Lee Ye-sook of the Cheongju City Council urged the Cheongju City Revitalization Foundation to adopt clear standards to prevent employment disadvantages related to parental leave, pregnancy, and childbirth.

She made the remarks on April 21 while reviewing a supplementary operating budget for the foundation during the 102nd special session of the Cheongju City Council’s Budget and Accounts Committee.

She said the city must ensure fairness and transparency in hiring tied to the 20 million KRW (approximately $15,000) recruitment agency fee included in this supplementary budget.

She added that the foundation needs explicit management standards and protective measures to ensure employees are not penalized in promotions or evaluations because of parental leave, pregnancy, or childbirth.

She also warned that a recent rise in parental leave across public institutions has created staffing gaps, calling for plans to deploy substitute personnel and to establish fair, transparent task-assignment standards.

She argued that institutional safeguards are necessary so that the workload does not fall disproportionately on particular employees.

She urged the foundation to develop these measures, share them with the council, and direct the responsible departments to carry out continuous monitoring and oversight.

“The Cheongju City Revitalization Foundation should set progressive standards not only for regional revitalization but also for organizational management,” she said. “I hope the foundation leads by implementing these measures and that they serve as a model for institutional operations across Cheongju.”