Firefighter A (35), who works in the Seoul metropolitan area, left the fire station at about 11:40 p.m. after standing a 24-hour on-call shift for field dispatches. The shift was not over yet, but A drove a sedan to a nearby parking lot. If the date changed, it could be a violation of the "two-day rotation (odd-even)" for sedans, so A moved the car in advance. After parking, A walked back to the fire station.
A said, "We are always on standby for dispatches, so going out in the middle of the night just to move the car is a burden," adding, "It's a policy that doesn't reflect the reality of shift work at all."
◇"All the on-duty allowance goes to taxi fares"
As the government implemented a two-day rotation for cars in the institutional sector after the Middle East crisis prolonged and oil supplies became unstable, critics on the ground are calling it "armchair administration." In particular, because nighttime on-duty staff are not explicitly exempted, situations have arisen where they have to move their cars during overnight shifts.
According to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and others on the 11th, the two-day rotation for public institutional sector sedans has been in effect since the 8th. ▲ Areas with poor public transportation ▲ pregnant women or infants riding along ▲ eco-friendly vehicles are exempt, but on-duty staff are not included. On top of that, a "three-strikes out" system, under which three violations make you subject to inspection, is being applied in parallel, making people on the ground even more cautious.
Not a few places are advising on-duty staff to use public transportation from the commute to work. Active-duty military officer B said, "The unit tells us to leave the car at home because we might get caught by the two-day rotation when going home after standing duty."
Public official C in South Jeolla Province also said, "After finishing duty, I just take a taxi home," adding, "The taxi fare comes to 30,000 won, and the entire overnight duty allowance goes to taxi fares."
◇It's at the agency head's discretion… but people are watching the two-day rotation results
Under the system, the agency head has the discretion to exempt on-duty staff from the car two-day rotation. But such cases are said to be rare on the ground. Many assessed that agency heads cannot help but be reluctant to grant exceptions because they are conscious of "performance management." Public institutions must report vehicle operation records and violations to the climate ministry twice a month and submit detailed information on the number of exempt vehicles and the reasons.
A military unit in North Gyeongsang Province did not apply the two-day rotation to on-duty staff when going home, but instead required them to come to work before 6 a.m., when no buses run. D, an officer in the unit, said, "It means we have to come in earlier and work extra hours to be exempted from the two-day rotation when going home, but that's unrealistic."
An employee at a public institution said, "With even surprise inspections announced, it's inevitably burdensome to expand exemptions," adding, "From the agency's standpoint, we can't help but be conscious of the results."
As the controversy continued, the National Council of Local Government Employees' Unions issued a statement on the 8th, saying, "A vehicle two-day rotation that ignores reality can paralyze local administration," and arguing, "Exception criteria must be clarified so that work can be carried out in a practical way."
The climate ministry, on the other hand, says the institutional sector must take the lead because this is a resource security crisis. A climate ministry official said, "For on-duty workers, using public transportation is the basic policy," adding, "Although each agency submits results, there are no separate punitive measures."