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Violation of Equal Employment Opportunity in Recruitment for Clerical Post at Prosecutor's Office [2003] KRNHRC 46 (1 September 2003)

The complainant (victim) was preparing for the recruitment examination for
Class 9 government officials for 2003 when she saw a public announcement
stating that the `30% Quota for Recruitment of Women' would be abolished that
there would instead be `Equal Opportunity for Both Sexes.' The complainant
expected without any doubt that `Equal Employment Opportunity for Both
Sexes' should apply to clerical posts at the prosecutor's office. However, the
new `Equal Employment Opportunity for Both Sexes' system does not apply to
posts at the prosecutors' office, detention centers, and juvenile reformatory
centers for boys. The complainant filed a complaint against the Ministry of
Government Administration and Home Affairs, declaring that this constitutes a
discriminatory act.

In response to the petition, the Commission concluded that even though
there may be some occasions at the prosecutor's when physical strength is
needed to a certain extent, such as during the act of arresting or confining
suspects, there is no ground that such duties would not require execution of
physical strength all the time. Further, there is no material that shows that a
female clerical worker could not handle such duties, and duties such as arresting
or confining suspects are not sole duties of a clerical worker for a prosecutor's
office, and what is more, in some prosecutor's offices, female workers are on
duty overnight. Given all facts together, the nature of duties at the prosecutor's
office can hardly serve as grounds for not upholding `Equal Employment
Opportunity for Both Sexes.' Accordingly, on September 1, 2003, the
Commission recommended that the respondent agency revise the `Guidelines for
Implementation of Equal Employment Opportunity for Both Sexes' such that
the clerical position of the prosecutor's office shall not be excluded from the
types of examinations subject to `Equal Employment Opportunity for Both
Sexes.' The respondent institution accommodated the recommendation issued
by the Commission.