Asiana rejects annual leave

[Anchor]

Recently, there have been reports that Asiana Airlines has been rejecting flight attendants' annual leave requests one after another.

As a result, flight attendants who are raising children are expressing difficulties to the point of considering resignation.

What is going on? Reporter Hwang Da-ye has investigated.

[Report]

Flight attendant A, who has worked at Asiana Airlines for over 10 years, has been able to balance work and childcare by utilizing annual leave.

However, since the second half of last year, the company has increasingly rejected her annual leave requests.

[A/Asiana Airlines Flight Attendant/Voice Altered: "In the year before last, if I applied for annual leave about five times, I would get it three or four times. But now it's completely 0%."]

She expresses that it has become difficult to take care of her child, leaving her with no choice but to consider resigning.

[A/Asiana Airlines Flight Attendant/Voice Altered: "When my child's fever was close to 40 degrees Celsius, I really had no choice but to leave the child at daycare and go to work."]

[B/Asiana Airlines Flight Attendant/Voice Altered: "More than 10 of my colleagues have quit so far."]

According to the Labor Standards Act, in principle, employers cannot refuse employees' leave requests, and can only change the timing of annual leave if it causes 'significant disruption' to the business.

So, why is this happening repeatedly at Asiana Airlines?

Upon investigation, it was found that over the past five years, the number of Asiana Airlines cabin crew has decreased by more than 11%, while the number of passenger flights has increased by over 70%.

The personnel structure that necessitates the rejection of annual leave requests has become entrenched.

The matter is currently under investigation by the employment authorities.

They are looking into whether Asiana has been unable to properly recruit staff due to management difficulties.

[Jang Jong-soo/Workplace Rights 119 Labor Attorney: "Annual leave can only be refused if there is really significant disruption. The courts interpret this very strictly."]

Asiana stated that the number of resignations increased during the COVID-19 period, and that the number of unavailable personnel has also risen due to parental leave, explaining that they are continuously hiring flight attendants to ensure smooth annual leave usage.

This is KBS News, Hwang Da-ye.