Gwanak-gu Provides Special Support Funds for Special Employment and Freelancers Affected by COVID-19

Special Support Fund of 500,000 KRW per Household for COVID-19 Affected Special Employment and Freelancers... Email Applications Subject to Mask 5-Day Rotation, In-Person Applications at District Office Basement 1F Yongkkumkkuneun Job Cafe

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gwanak-gu (District Mayor Park Jun-hee) will provide special support funds to special-type workers (special employment laborers) and freelance workers who are facing livelihood crises due to business closures and suspensions caused by COVID-19 and are in the blind spots of social insurance.

Special-type workers and freelancers are workers who provide labor directly to consumers and receive compensation.

Although their labor provision method is similar to wage workers, they often cannot enroll in employment insurance and have been excluded from various COVID-19 related supports. However, this special support fund is expected to help households.

The support targets are special-type workers (special employment laborers) and freelance workers who have their resident registration in Seoul as of the announcement date (May 4, 2020).

The eligibility criteria include ▲ not enrolled in employment insurance as of the announcement date (May 4, 2020) ▲ unable to work for 20 days or more from the date the COVID-19 crisis alert was raised to the severe level (February 23, 2020) until the announcement date, or workers whose average income in March-April this year decreased by 30% or more compared to January-February or the previous year's monthly average income.

This special support fund will be awarded not on a first-come, first-served basis but by selecting final recipients based on the health insurance premium amount according to income, targeting households with members earning 100% or less of the median income.

Also, it is possible to receive this support concurrently with the ‘Seoul-type Disaster Emergency Living Expenses.’ Special employment laborers and freelancers who have already received the Seoul-type Disaster Emergency Living Expenses can apply. However, recipients of unemployment benefits, Seoul-type self-employed survival funds, or Seoul-type COVID-19 youth emergency allowances cannot receive overlapping support.

The application period for email submissions is from May 6 to 22 until 5 p.m., and for in-person submissions from May 11 to 22 until 5 p.m.

Residents wishing to apply can download the related documents from the Gwanak-gu Office website (News → Gwanak News), prepare the required documents, and either visit the Yongkkumkkuneun Job Cafe on the basement level 1 of Gwanak-gu Office for in-person submission or apply via email.

Email submissions must be sent to an email address that includes the last digit of the applicant’s birth year, following the same system as the 5-day mask distribution schedule.

The email addresses are ▲nodong16@seoul.go.kr ▲nodong27@seoul.go.kr ▲nodong38@seoul.go.kr ▲nodong49@seoul.go.kr ▲nodong50@seoul.go.kr.

Applicants should send their applications to the email address that includes the last digit of their birth year.

For example, those born in 1971 or 1986 should send to nodong16@seoul.go.kr, and those born in 1993 or 1978 should send to nodong38@seoul.go.kr.

The support amount is 500,000 KRW per household (maximum one person, one time), provided in cash, and will be paid by June 5, within four weeks from the application date.

District Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “I hope this special support fund will provide some help to special employment laborers and freelancers who are going through difficult times due to reduced income from COVID-19,” and added, “We will mobilize all administrative power to recover the local economy, which has been stagnated by COVID-19.”

For more details, please refer to the Gwanak-gu Office website (News → Gwanak News) or contact the Special Support Fund Support Team at the Job Venture Division of the district office.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.