Global MPM Insight

Enhancing Public Service Vitality through Family-Friendly Working Conditions 1) Civil servants with 1 to less than 4 years of service: annual leave increased from 12–15 days to 15–16 days. 2) Special provision: annual leave scheduled four days or more before the date of use may be self-approved (applied in eight agencies, including the Ministry of Personnel Management) 1. Promoting Civil Service Work Innovation Type 2016 2023 2024 Average annual leave days per employee 10.3 days 16.2 days 16.6 days Average Monthly Overtime Hours per Employee (Excluding Operational Staff) 31.5 hours 18.7 hours 16.7 hours Flexible work utilization rate 18.6% 57.4% 61.0% According to the review of 2024 performance, 61 percent of civil servants used flexible work arrangements at least once per month on average-up 3.6 percentage points from 2023 and 42.4 percentage points from 2016. Excluding 2020 and 2021, when teleworking surged due to COVID-19, this is the first time the rate has exceeded 60 percent. Annual leave usage also increased. Of the 48 central administrative agencies, 43 - over 90 percent - reported higher annual leave usage than the previous year. On average, national civil servants used 16.6 days of annual leave per person, up 2.5 percent (0.4 days) from 2023 and 61.2 percent (6.3 days) from 2016. By contrast, average monthly overtime hours per national civil servant declined to 16.7 hours, down 10.7 percent (2.0 hours) from 2023 and 47.0 percent (14.8 hours) from 2016. The Ministry attributes these outcomes to institutional measures promoting annual leave use - such as expanded entitlements for junior civil servants 1) and a special provision allowing ‘self-approval of annual leave’ 2 ) - as well as to the introduction of a ‘self-directed working hours system’ that manages total overtime by department to reduce unnecessary work. To move away from rigid work practices, enhance productivity, and foster a family-friendly work culture, the Ministry of Personnel Management has implemented the Guidelines for Civil Service Work Innovation since 2016. A review of the “2024 Work Innovation” initiative conducted in 2025 showed increased use of annual leave, reduced overtime work, and - for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic - a flexible work utilization rate exceeding 60 percent, including flexible hours, flexible days, and online remote work. In addition, to improve civil servants’ working conditions and enhance administrative services by reforming outdated systems misaligned with changing circumstances, the government carried out the first comprehensive overhaul of the national civil service duty roster system in 76 years. Details are as follows. Jeong Sangjoon Senior Deputy Director of Government Discipline Division, MPM 62 Global MPM Insight Vol.5 EnhancingPublicServiceVitality throughFamily-FriendlyWorkingConditions 63 MPM Activities