Issues Arising in Applying the Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment Act to Research Personnel in the Education Sector

This study examines employment arrangements for fixed-term researcher in educational research institutes and assesses the application of the exceptions clause under the Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment Act. We conducted semistructured interviews with four researchers and collected written opinions from three legal practitioners. Findings are as follows. First, employers invoke the exception for “specialized knowledge or skills” to hire and rehire research personnel continuously, and reclassify temporary administrative workers into research tracks, departing from the statute’s original p urpose. Second, overlapping r oles i n research, research support, and administrative work blurs identity; PhD holders spend considerable time on administration, limiting their expertise. These problems are exacerbated by mismatches among job postings, contracts, and assignments, as well as by the absence of standardized job descriptions. Third, limited employees awareness and inadequate employer disclosure reveal a gap between the statute’s broad notion of “specialized knowledge or skills” and the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s substantive criteria emphasizing linkage between job tasks and academic field. Accordingly, we propose explicit contract-stage disclosure of the legal basis, and any exception invoked; sector-specific job analysis and standardized job descriptions; a task-based definition of “research support” that excludes administrative work; baseline employment conditions by funding type and clearer statutory criteria with consistent application procedures.