Maximum 1.5 Million Won Employment Retention Subsidy for Unpaid Leave Workers... Enforcement Decree Passed at Cabinet Meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Legal grounds have been established to provide employment retention subsidies of up to 1.5 million won to unpaid leave workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, on the 2nd, a partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Employment Insurance Act, which includes easing the requirements for providing employment retention subsidies to unpaid leave workers, passed the Cabinet meeting.

The amendment fully reflects the contents of the "Special Employment Stability Measures" announced by the government on the 22nd of last month.

The Special Employment Stability Measures decided to provide employment retention subsidies of 500,000 won per month for three months to workers at workplaces that have entered unpaid leave after at least one month of paid leave. This relaxes the previous requirement that payment eligibility required more than three months of paid leave.

Unpaid leave workers receiving employment retention subsidies cannot receive the "COVID-19 Emergency Employment Stability Subsidy" simultaneously.

The emergency employment stability subsidy, for which applications began on the 1st, includes workers who had a certain level of unpaid leave days between March and May.

The amendment also newly establishes a regulatory basis allowing the government to support part of the wage reduction for companies that have taken employment retention measures through labor-management agreements, such as workers accepting wage reductions and employers guaranteeing employment for a certain period.

Regulations were also prepared to allow companies to first pay workers' suspension allowances through loans and then repay them by receiving employment retention subsidies from the government.

Additionally, the amendment includes provisions for wage support to employers who hire people who lost their jobs during a certain period of worsened employment conditions due to the COVID-19 situation, as well as regulatory grounds for vocational training living expense loans targeting unpaid leave workers whose income has decreased.

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor stated, "The easing of unpaid leave support requirements and the expansion of vocational training living expense loan support targets will be implemented promptly through the establishment and revision of related notices."

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