Protecting Jobs in Small and Medium Enterprises! ... Busan City Signs Employment Retention Win-Win Agreement

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Busan City has selected 470 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that aim to maintain or expand employment and will sign a win-win employment retention agreement providing up to 15 million KRW in support for the four major social insurance premiums.

The city recruited companies to participate in the 'Busan Hope Employment Retention Support Project' for one month starting April 11, and after a review process, selected 470 companies out of approximately 760 applicants.

The total number of employees eligible for support of the four major social insurance premiums in the selected companies is 8,192.

Originally, support was planned for 6,200 employees, but due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, support was strengthened for local SMEs striving to maintain and expand employment by selecting and supporting 30% more employees than initially planned.

The 'Busan Hope Employment Retention Support Project' is a program that supports the employer's share of the four major social insurance premiums for employees who maintain employment for one year. It was first launched last year, and the total project budget for this year is 2 billion KRW.

For selected companies, support is provided for the employer's share of the four major social insurance premiums up to 300,000 KRW per employee annually, with a maximum of 50 employees for manufacturing companies and up to 30 employees for non-manufacturing companies located in industrial complexes.

The four major social insurance premiums will be paid in two installments in June and December.

The city will sign the win-win employment retention agreements with each company by the 17th and accept applications for the first installment (June) support funds.

The second installment will only be provided to companies that maintain employment until December.

Selected companies will be notified individually, and if a company violates the employment retention agreement, it will lose eligibility to participate and must return all received support funds.

In addition to insurance premium support, consulting for companies responding to the 'Serious Accidents Punishment Act,' which has been in effect since January 27, will be provided. Labor attorneys will visit companies wishing to receive consulting and conduct the sessions.

For more details, inquiries can be made to the Corporate Support Team of the Busan Employers Federation, the operating organization.

Lee Jun-seung, Director of the Digital Economy Innovation Office of Busan City, said, “We will closely cooperate with local companies to not only maintain employment but also create new jobs and promote various support projects.”

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