Seoul City to Pay 15.4 Billion KRW to 13,635 Unpaid Leave Workers of Small Businesses and Small Enterprises

Up to 1.5 Million Won Directly Deposited into Applicants' Personal Accounts via Autonomous Districts... Preventing Unemployment and Supporting Employment Retention

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 29th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will provide a total of 15.452 billion KRW to all 13,635 applicants to prevent job losses and maintain employment for workers at small business owners and small enterprises (fewer than 50 employees) in Seoul who are facing unemployment risks due to COVID-19. Up to 1.5 million KRW will be deposited into the personal accounts of the applicants on the 30th through the district offices.

Although the number of applicants exceeded the initial budget of 15 billion KRW, Seoul secured an additional budget of 452 million KRW and decided to provide the "Seoul City Unpaid Leave Worker Employment Maintenance Support Fund" to all applicants who meet the support conditions, given the severe difficulties faced by small business owners and small enterprises due to the extension of social distancing measures amid the resurgence of COVID-19. Since 2020 until April 2021, Seoul has supported a total of 36,991 unpaid leave workers with this employment maintenance support fund.

Analysis of the final 13,635 recipients showed that 25.6% (3,493) were workers at businesses subject to closure orders, 47.5% (6,480) were workers at businesses with operational restrictions, and 26.9% (3,662) were workers in other industries. Since priority was given to industries and workplaces severely affected, 73% of the total recipients are small business owners and small enterprises suffering from closure orders or operational restrictions.

This year, the "Seoul City Unpaid Leave Worker Employment Maintenance Support Fund" extended the support period from 2 months to 3 months and increased the maximum support amount from 1 million KRW to 1.5 million KRW. The support target was also expanded to include "dispatched and subcontracted workers," who were previously in a blind spot for applications.

Kim Eui-seung, Director of Economic Policy, said, "The Seoul City Unpaid Leave Worker Employment Maintenance Support Fund is a project to support workers at small business owners and small enterprises with fewer than 50 employees who have been left out of government policies so far," adding, "We hope this will provide some help to workers and business owners by preventing unemployment among small business and small enterprise workers struggling due to COVID-19 and maintaining employment of skilled personnel until the COVID-19 situation stabilizes."

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