The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on the 19th that it determined a local government discriminated by excluding only public service employees from eligibility for the flextime option known as the "staggered commute system."
According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a county operates a fixed staggered commute system that adjusts start and end times by about one hour. But unlike government officials, visiting nurses affiliated with the county could not use the fixed staggered commute system solely because they are public service employees. That was the basis for filing a petition with the NHRC.
The local government responded that the nature of visiting nurses' work differs from that of government officials, making it unsuitable to apply the staggered commute system.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)'s Committee for Remedy of Discrimination reached a different conclusion. The NHRC said that although visiting nurses mainly work in the field, their attendance management structure is substantially the same as that of government officials, so applying the staggered commute system would pose no particular difficulty.
It also noted that, given the need to adjust visiting schedules, allowing visiting nurses to modify working hours within a set range could improve work efficiency and service quality.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommended that the local government take steps to allow public service employees to use flexible work arrangements to the extent that they do not hinder their duties, saying it does not align with the purpose of the system to exclude them from the staggered commute system solely because they are public service employees.