Death During Public Senior Job Program... Court Rules "No Industrial Accident Compensation"

The court ruled that participants in the government's senior employment program are not considered workers under the Labor Standards Act, and therefore, even if they die during work, their bereaved families cannot receive survivor benefits under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.

According to the legal community on the 7th, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 3 (Chief Judge Choi Su-jin) ruled against the plaintiff in the first trial of a lawsuit filed by the bereaved family of Mr. A, who died while participating in the senior employment program, against the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, seeking cancellation of the denial of survivor benefits and funeral expenses.

Seoul Administrative Court
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Mr. A participated in the "Public Interest-type Community Environmental Improvement Volunteer Project" as part of the 2022 Senior Employment and Social Activity Support Project. While picking up trash on the roadside shoulder near an apartment in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, Mr. A hit his head on the side mirror of a passing vehicle and died.

The bereaved family claimed that the accident qualified as an occupational injury and demanded survivor benefits and funeral expenses, but when their request was denied, they filed a lawsuit against the Service in March of last year.

However, the court ruled that Mr. A was not a worker under the Labor Standards Act and therefore could not receive various benefits stipulated by the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act. The senior employment and social activity support project is classified into "public type," "social service type," and "market type," and the public type, which Mr. A participated in, corresponds to "voluntary volunteer activities." The court stated, "The deceased participated in volunteer activities and received subsidies for public interest purposes, but it is difficult to view this as providing labor under a subordinate relationship controlled by work for the purpose of wages."

Mr. A typically picked up trash for three hours a day and received 27,000 won, which was considered a nominal amount for transportation expenses rather than wages, and there was no specific instruction or supervision regarding the work from the affiliated welfare center. This was the basis for the ruling. Since the bereaved family did not appeal, this judgment has become final.

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