Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member Kim Yong-ho Proposes 'Freelancer Rights Protection Support Ordinance'

Estimated 100,000 Freelancers in Jeonnam Province Call for Advancement in Labor Policies... Establishing Grounds for Rights Protection

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] The OECD forecasts that 14% of low-skilled jobs will disappear, about 30% of all jobs will change in nature, and new jobs will emerge in new technology fields.

The Jeollanam-do Provincial Council announced that the "Jeollanam-do Freelancer Rights Protection and Support Ordinance," proposed by Representative Kim Yongho, passed the standing committee on the 15th.

The ordinance defines freelancers as people who work under free contracts not subject to the Labor Standards Act, Employment and Labor Act, or Industrial Safety and Health Act.

Due to global labor flexibilization policies, changes in industrial structure, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, various contract types other than regular employment are increasing.

Also, with the recent spread of the sharing economy and the increase of digital platforms, freelance contracts linked to IT technology are on the rise, entering an era of growth without employment.

Representative Kim Yongho emphasized the need to protect and support freelancer rights, stating, "Due to the dismantling of traditional employment relationships, the number of workers not protected under labor laws is increasing, and freelancers are excluded from employment insurance and industrial accident insurance, which are the minimum social safety nets."

Kim said, "In Korea, freelancers are ambiguously referred to as 'special employment type workers,' 'one-person self-employed,' or 'consignment contractors,' and there are no legal regulations targeting them, nor is their statistics or scale identified," urging the realization of fair labor policies at the Jeollanam-do level.

According to the Korea Labor Institute, about 10% of the total workers in Korea are analyzed as freelancers.

In Jeollanam-do, out of approximately 980,000 employed people, about 100,000 are estimated to be freelancers, and considering the high self-employment rate and unregistered activities such as private tutoring, the freelancer scale is expected to be larger.

The main contents of the freelancer support ordinance include ▲establishing and implementing a basic plan to protect freelancer rights and support stable activities ▲providing grounds for conducting labor environment surveys to grasp freelancer statistics and scale ▲developing and distributing fair trade guidelines to protect freelancer rights ▲providing legal consultation services for freelancer protection.

Representative Kim Yongho urged, "By actively supporting young freelancers, Jeollanam-do should improve the quality of youth jobs and proactively respond to the increasing issues of young freelancers due to worsening employment and changes in job types."

He added, "The unstable status of freelancers can threaten not only individuals but also social integration, and the problems of those left in the blind spots of the social safety net can lead to greater social costs."

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