[Opinion] Officials Lured by Overtime Pay

Beside the control room of a district office in Seoul, one can find a fingerprint reader used to sign in and out of work. In the middle of the night, a few employees show up and put their thumb on the reader. While their family members are waiting in the car, some officials log their time and then go back home. Others are in comfortable clothes and slippers, as if they came for a walk. This is a scene of S District Office employees extending overtime hours caught by YTN, a cable news network.

The office placed a fingerprint reader in February, as employees did not stop receiving overtime pay without working after 6:00 p.m. by proxy signature. To unscrupulous minds, cutting-edge machines are of no use. Every night, even on the weekends, the practice continues. Every month, 450 million won are paid to about 1,100 employees below the fifth level. The district officials, who are supposed to serve their residents, are no less than petty thieves.

Some officials regard overtime pay as “bribes” or “wage insurance.” A large number of government officials do not feel ashamed of embezzlement, to say nothing of feeling guilty. Last May, the Board of Audit and Inspection found 95.2 billion won in overtime pay was embezzled in 23 local governments. The officials of Suwon City manipulated all the employees’ work time to “8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.” over five years, pocketing 33.3 billion won in overtime pay. The case was unveiled this January.

The practice is not the only problem of the S District Office and Suwon City Office. The slap-on-the-wrist punishment is a major reason for the long-continued practice of embezzlement of overtime pay. Three people in charge of the embezzlement of Suwon City office that took 33.3 billion won only had their salary cut as punishment. If nothing changes, government employees won’t fear stealing tax money. This administration has always called for reform, but what did it reform?

Gwon Soon-taek, Editorial writer, maypole@donga.com