"Non-regular workers who 'work even if suspected of COVID' are twice as many as regular workers... income reduction and forced resignation also reported"

Investigation Announcement by Jikjang Gapjil 119 and Gonggong Sangsaeng Yeondae Fund

Members of the Delivery Workers Overwork Death Countermeasures Committee held a press conference last year at the National Service Industry Labor Union Federation in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, regarding the dramatic settlement of the social agreement body. The photo is not related to any specific part of the article. / Photo by Asia Economy

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] A survey revealed that the proportion of non-regular workers who continued working without rest despite suspected COVID-19 infection is twice that of regular workers.

On the 20th, Workplace Bullying 119 and the Public Coexistence Solidarity Fund held a presentation of the survey results titled "COVID-19 and Changes in Workplace Life" via YouTube, disclosing these findings. The survey was commissioned to the public opinion research firm Embrain Public and conducted from the 24th to the 31st of last month, targeting 2,000 office workers.

According to the survey results, 43.7% of non-regular workers answered that they continued working despite having suspected COVID-19 symptoms, which is twice the rate of regular workers (23.4%). Additionally, the rate of those who either had suspected symptoms or had family members infected and underwent PCR testing was 80.3% for regular workers and 73.6% for non-regular workers, showing a 6.7% lower rate among non-regular workers.

On the other hand, the rate of 'under-testing,' meaning those suspected of COVID-19 infection but not getting tested, was higher among non-regular workers (26.4%) compared to regular workers (19.7%).

Professor Hwang Seon-woong of the Department of Economics at Pukyong National University, who presented the findings, stated, "There is no statistically significant difference in the COVID-19 infection rates themselves between regular and non-regular workers," and analyzed that "this difference in testing rates is due to the greater economic disadvantages non-regular workers face when confirmed positive and quarantined."

In fact, the economic impact of COVID-19 infection was found to be greater on non-regular workers. Among regular workers confirmed with COVID-19, 36.9% received paid sick leave, while only 16.2% took unpaid sick leave.

However, among non-regular workers, 42.1% took unpaid sick leave, and only 13.8% received paid sick leave.

Furthermore, 51.6% of non-regular workers reported experiencing income reduction after being confirmed positive, approximately 2.2 times higher than the 23.6% of regular workers. The rate of being forced to resign after COVID-19 confirmation was also about 6.7 times higher for non-regular workers at 10.1%, compared to 1.5% for regular workers.

Professor Shin Hee-joo of the Department of Sociology at Catholic University pointed out, "Non-regular workers, women, and non-office workers had significantly higher rates of continuing work even after COVID-19 confirmation compared to regular workers, men, and office workers," adding, "COVID-19 acts as a factor that deepens employment instability for workers in unfavorable labor conditions."

Based on these results, Kwon Doo-seop, the representative of Workplace Bullying 119, urged for ▲ the elimination of blind spots in employment insurance ▲ the introduction of disaster unemployment benefits ▲ the implementation of an employment insurance premium increase system for social solidarity ▲ the introduction of paid sick leave and sickness benefits ▲ and strengthening employer responsibility for non-regular workers.

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