[Changes from the Second Half of the Year] Application of 52-Hour Workweek for Companies with Fewer Than 50 Employees... Employment Insurance for Special Types of Workers Including Delivery Drivers Begins

Flexible Operation of COVID-19 Quarantine Period Including "14 Days"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government will expand the 52-hour workweek system to workplaces with 5 to 49 employees starting next month on the 1st. Employment insurance will be implemented for 12 special employment types (teukgo), including delivery drivers, and the reasons for exclusion from industrial accident insurance will be strengthened to reduce blind spots. The fixed '14-day' infectious disease quarantine period will be flexibly adjusted and operated.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance published "Changes Starting from the Second Half of 2021" containing these details.

Enforcement of 52-hour Workweek for Companies with 5-49 Employees Without Grace Period

The government decided to expand the 52-hour workweek system, which has been gradually implemented since 2018, to companies with 5 to 49 employees starting next month on the 1st. Although economic circles such as the Korea Federation of SMEs requested an extension of the grace period, it was effectively rejected. Thus, following the application to companies with 300 or more employees in 2018 and those with 50 to 299 employees in January 2020, all companies with 5 or more employees must now comply with the 52-hour workweek system. The Ministry of Employment and Labor, the main department in charge, explained the policy implementation goal as "an institutional improvement to reform the long working hours culture."

Additionally, as a measure to improve workers' rights, employment insurance for 12 special employment types including delivery drivers will be implemented from next month on the 1st. This is part of the nationwide employment insurance system scheduled for implementation in 2025. Accordingly, teukgo workers will be able to receive unemployment benefits and maternity benefits. Furthermore, the system will be strengthened to prevent exclusion from industrial accident insurance except for unavoidable reasons such as illness or childcare leave. Many teukgo workers have been forced to sign waivers giving up industrial accident insurance under implicit pressure from employers, but this measure aims to reduce such cases. A Ministry of Employment official said, "Since the application rate for exclusion from industrial accident insurance among teukgo workers is high, we judged that they are in a blind spot for industrial accident compensation and decided to implement this policy."

Rigid '14-day' COVID-19 Quarantine to Be Operated Flexibly

Jung Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters), explaining the COVID-19 vaccination plan for the third quarter during a regular COVID-19 briefing held at the Disease Control Headquarters in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do on the afternoon of the 17th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

In the health and welfare sector, a notable policy is the flexible operation of the COVID-19 quarantine period, which had been effectively fixed at a maximum of 14 days. Considering cases such as antibody formation after vaccination, the quarantine period will be changed to "the day determined by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) within the maximum incubation period of the infectious disease (14 days for COVID-19)." This means that a mandatory 14-day quarantine is no longer required. Previously, on the 4th of last month, the KDCA announced that the "Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act," which includes this content, was approved at the Cabinet meeting. The policy has been in effect since the 11th of last month.

Coinciding with this, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) has decided to apply a new "Social Distancing Restructuring Local Government Application Plan" that relaxes quarantine guidelines starting next month on the 1st, which is expected to create a policy synergy effect related to revitalizing domestic consumption.

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