Speeding Up the Abolition of Exclusivity in Industrial Accident Insurance for Special and Platform Workers... Strengthening Parental Leave for 'One-Year-Old' Parents

Reducing Employment Safety Net Blind Spots for Special Employment and Platform Workers
Enhancing Welfare by Increasing Parental Leave Income in the Low Birthrate Era

On August 29, a memorial space for delivery riders was set up on the platform in front of Seolleung Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. On the 26th of the same month, a rider was fatally struck by a cargo truck on a road near Seolleung Station. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government is pushing for the enrollment of up to 700,000 special employment workers (teukso goyongjik, teukgo) and platform workers in industrial accident insurance. It will raise the level of parental leave benefits to encourage parents with one-year-old children to take parental leave. The government has unveiled these measures to strengthen the employment safety net for vulnerable employment groups and to overcome the low birthrate population structure.

The government announced this at the 46th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held on the 30th of last month. First, it will refine the system so that special employment workers and platform workers can properly enroll in industrial accident insurance. It plans to propose the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act in the second half of the year to abolish the 'exclusivity' requirement, which mandates that a worker must provide labor to only one workplace as a condition for enrollment. A government official explained, "Rather than encouraging individual workers to fulfill exclusivity, abolishing the exclusivity regulation when enrolling workers in industrial accident insurance is more realistic and efficient in narrowing the blind spots of industrial accident insurance."

Regarding this, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki said, "Recently, due to the special nature of platform labor and other non-face-to-face digital jobs, accidents such as overwork deaths among workers who fall into legal and institutional blind spots have occurred repeatedly." He added, "We will actively finalize the legislation of the Platform 4 Acts, which were already proposed earlier this year, and will also promote mandatory health checkups for high-risk special employment workers and support costs for improving working conditions for platform companies." He continued, "We will continuously expand the coverage of industrial accident insurance to strengthen protection for about 500,000 to 700,000 workers in blind spots and further strengthen the social safety net by including platform workers under the scope of the 'Labor Welfare Basic Act.'"

Additionally, the government decided to raise the level of parental leave benefits for parents with children under 12 months old. This is to reduce the burden on dual-income couples amid the entrenched low birthrate population structure. From next year, the income replacement rate for parental leave benefits will be increased, and the father's parental leave system will be consolidated into the '3+3 Parental Leave System.' Couples with children under 12 months old who take parental leave will receive up to 15 million KRW for the first three months. The Ministry of Employment and Labor has announced a draft amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Employment Insurance Act to increase parental leave support payments for couples with children under 12 months old. The parental leave system allows workers with children aged 8 or younger or in the second grade of elementary school or below to apply for parental leave, which employers grant for up to one year. The support measures have been strengthened to encourage parents with children under 12 months old to take parental leave.

Accordingly, when both parents take parental leave, the parental leave benefit paid for the first three months will be raised from 80% to 100% of the ordinary wage, supporting a combined maximum of 15 million KRW for the first three months of the child's life. For example, if a father and mother with a child under 12 months old take parental leave together, in the first month, each parent will receive 100% of the parental leave benefit up to a limit of 2 million KRW per month. This means a total of up to 4 million KRW is provided. In the second month, the limit increases to 2.5 million KRW per month, and in the third month, it rises to 3 million KRW per month. In other words, couples can receive up to 15 million KRW combined over three months.

The benefit paid for 9 months from 4 to 12 months after childbirth will also be raised from 50% to 80% of the ordinary wage. It will be paid at 80% of the ordinary wage up to a limit of 1.5 million KRW per month. Currently, it is paid at 50% of the ordinary wage up to a limit of 1.2 million KRW per month. In conclusion, if both parents who earn more than 3 million KRW per month take parental leave, they will receive 21 million KRW annually each in parental leave benefits.

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