Earticle

초록

영어

Public service positions are generally regarded as prestigious and highly stable. However, in recent years, mental illness among civil servants caused by their work stress and tension has loomed as a social problem. The main causes include distress arising from Gapjil (abuse of power) within rigid organizational hierarchies and the burden experienced while handling civil petitions filed by individuals outside the organization. The government organizations tend to have a hierarchical order, as implied in Article 57 of the State Civil servants Act mentioning “the obligation to obey.” The rigidity of government organizations can be a burden for civil servants, especially for lower-level public servants. Meanwhile, with the increasing complexity and diversity of administrative services, the number of civil petitions has also grown, giving rise to illegal behavior by petitioners. While it is desirable to enhance general citizens’ knowledge about administrative services and guarantee their access to information about public services, this can, in fact, lead to an increased difficulty in handling civil petitions. In other words, civil servants increasingly experience grater burdens and difficulty in performing their tasks. There is an ample body of studies and discussions regarding employees protected by the Labor Standards Act, which prohibits “workplace harassment” and requires “the protection of customer service employees.” On the contrary, there is not enough discussion on the protection of civil servants’ right to dignity. While there have been legislative revisions and improvement of the awareness on the protection of general workers’ right to dignity, the issue of legislating a law to protect civil servants and the awareness on the topic have not made any comparable progress. This relative gap can undermine the morale of all civil servants and lead to their departure from the public sector. In this premise, this study examined the legislation, problems, and improvement measures related to the harassment of civil servants (due to Gapjil) and their difficulty in handling civil complaints. The damage done by Gapjil and difficulty in handling civil petitions have a direct correlation with civil servants’ mental health issues. It is necessary to improve the regulatory system governing accidents in line of duty by reflecting the characteristics of public service jobs. In relation to responding to civil petitions, solutions may include measures such as establishing the right to suspend public service jobs and strengthening the organization’s duty to take response. Until now, there has been a lack of recognition that civil servants are also workers that need protection. Although civil servants are in charge of executing important duties related to the functions of the state and local governments, they have not sufficiently been protected from Gapjil and malicious petitions by citizens. From now on, efforts are needed to improve related laws, paying attention to resolving civil servants’ sufferings from Gapjil and protecting them from malicious petitions.

한국어

공무원의 노동법상 지위와 그 보호범위는 상당히 모호하면서도 논쟁적이다. 공무원으로서 신분적 보장이라는 측면에서는 선호되는 일자리이지만, 국민의 봉사자로서 의무와 책임도 강조된다. 이에 따라, 경직된 조직 내부의 갑질 고충과 민원인들로부터의 과도한 민원응대 부담으로 인하여 큰 스트레스를 받는 것도 사실이다. 실제로 행정서비스의 복잡･다변화로 민원이 증가하면서, 민원인의 위법행위도 함께 증가하는 추세다. 이와 관련하여, ‘직장 내 괴롭힘 금지’와 ‘고객 응대 근로자 보호’가 적용되는 ｢근로기준법｣ 적용 근로자와 달리 공무원 보호 체계는 충분하지 않다. 일반 근로자의 인격권 보호에 관한 법제 개정과 인식 개선과 비교할 때 공무원 부문은 분명히 이에 미치지 못한다. 이로 인한 공무원의 사기 저하와 조직이탈 문제가 심각하게 대두되고 있다. 국가 및 지자체의 기능 유지, 국민 권익 보호 관점에서 공무원의 인격권 침해 위험을 주목하지 않을 수 없는 상황이 되었다. 인격권 보장이라는 관점에서 공무원의 노동법적 지위와 보호 규율을 재정비할 시점이 아닐 수 없다. 요컨대 공무원의 법적 지위와 그 업무의 특수성을 충분히 고려하면서도 다른 한편 근로자이자 인격체로서 과도한 스트레스로부터 보호받으면서 공무를 수행할 수 있도록 하는 방안을, 공무상 재해 규정 개정, 공무원 고충 처리 법제 개선 등의 방법을 염두에 두고 모색할 필요가 있다.

목차

<국문초록>
Ⅰ. 들어가며
Ⅱ. 공무원의 법적 지위와 인격권 침해 위험의 고도화
Ⅲ. 공무원 갑질 고충처리 제도의 문제점
Ⅳ. 민원응대 공무원 보호 제도의 문제점
Ⅴ. 결론 및 입법정책적 개선방안
참고문헌

키워드

공무원 인격권 고충 갑질 직장 내 괴롭힘 민원 악성 민원 민원응대 공무상 재해 산업안전보건법 근로자의 정신건강 Civil servants Personal rights Sufferings of Civil servants Gapjil(Abuse of power) Workplace Harassment Civil Petitions Malicious Petitions Responding to Civil Complaints Accidents in Line of Duty Occupational Safety and Health Act Mental health

저자

• 이재현 [ Lee, Jae-Hyun | 부산대학교 법학연구소 특별연구원, 노무법인 남명 대표사원(공인노무 사), 법학박사. ] 제1저자
• 권혁 [ Kwon, Hyuk | 고려대학교 노동대학원 교수, 법학박사. ] 교신저자

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