지방공기업법 당연퇴직제도의 법적 쟁점과 개선방안

As of January 7, 2025, the revised Local Public Enterprises Act stipulates that the disqualifications for the appointment of employees of local public corporations and agencies shall be equivalent to those for local public officials. To ensure the effectiveness of this provision, a legal basis has been established allowing criminal background checks to be requested from the police during the hiring process. In addition, an ipso facto retirement system, similar to that applied to public officials, has been introduced by law to terminate employment relationships accordingly. Employees of local public corporations and agencies are not public officials, but rather employees governed by general labor laws. Accordingly, under previous interpretations, unless the ipso facto retirement was seen as an automatic termination of the employment relationship, it was considered a unilateral termination by the employer without the employee’s consent, and thus constituted a dismissal under the Labor Standards Act. However, under the amended law, the ipso facto retirement of employees of local public corporations and agencies is not considered a dismissal, as the employment relationship is terminated by operation of law upon the occurrence of a statutory cause. Therefore, even if the ipso facto retirement occurs following disciplinary action, it does not violate the principle of prohibition of double disciplinary action. The disqualification grounds and the ipso facto retirement system for employees of local public corporations and agencies directly borrow from civil service laws, and due to certain legislative gaps, they risk becoming merely symbolic legislation without practical effectiveness. Therefore, legislative supplements are necessary regarding the notification system of criminal facts and the extension of the disciplinary statute of limitations. The social perspective on misconduct and deviant behavior by employees of public enterprises appears to demand stricter control. However, the extent to which labor relations involving employees of public enterprises should be regulated requires more careful and thorough examination.