Health Certificates That Trouble Restaurant Part-Timers... Issuance Fee Increased from 3,000 Won to 40,000 Won Due to COVID-19

Citizens who visited the screening clinic set up at Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul are waiting to get tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it has been confirmed that workers in the food hygiene sector, such as restaurants, have been reluctantly paying extra fees to obtain health examination certificates (commonly known as "Bogeunjeung"). Although Bogeunjeung are issued by public health centers, the increased workload due to COVID-19 led to the issuance being delegated to frontline clinics and hospitals, which triggered the issue. While public health centers issued the certificates for 3,000 KRW, some hospitals have been charging exorbitant fees ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 KRW, causing growing dissatisfaction.

On the 24th, a food hygiene industry insider said, "The cost of obtaining Bogeunjeung, which used to be issued at public health centers, has significantly increased when obtained from frontline hospitals, leading to considerable complaints from restaurant workers." According to current law, workers in the food service industry, including restaurants, cafes, and convenience stores, must renew their Bogeunjeung annually. This is because they need to regularly prove that they do not have typhoid fever, tuberculosis, contagious skin diseases, and other conditions related to food handling.

The problem is that the renewal process for Bogeunjeung shifted from public health centers to frontline hospitals after the COVID-19 outbreak, resulting in increased costs. The issuance of Bogeunjeung is not covered by health insurance, and since each hospital applies different non-reimbursable fees, the cost varies widely from 10,000 to 40,000 KRW.

Moreover, the workers required to obtain Bogeunjeung are often part-time employees such as job seekers, university students, and housewives who earn minimum wage, so the increased costs impose a heavier burden. Ms. A, a housewife in her 40s working at a restaurant, said, "In a situation where jobs have decreased due to COVID-19, I was lucky to get a job at a cafeteria, but I felt burdened by the cost of obtaining the Bogeunjeung." She added, "I even called hospitals located in hard-to-reach places to compare costs and went to the cheapest one."

Another issue is that the certificate cannot be issued online after the examination. Mr. B, a senior university student preparing for employment, said, "I found a place that issued the certificate at a relatively low price after visiting several places, but since they only allowed in-person or mail pickup, I had no choice but to go to a nearby hospital."

Earlier, the government temporarily postponed health examinations for workers required to obtain Bogeunjeung for one month from the certificate expiration date starting in February, but there are criticisms that this measure was ineffective.

Furthermore, Seoul City stopped applying this temporary postponement at the end of last month. If the Bogeunjeung validity period is between February 17 and May 31, the health examination can be conducted within one month of the validity period, but for periods after that, the existing guidelines apply. For example, if the last examination date was June 28 of last year, the examination must be completed by June 27 of this year. A public health center official in Yongsan-gu said, "The temporary guideline applied since February 17 ended on the 30th of last month," adding, "We have not received any official documents from Seoul City requesting an extension."

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