The Ministry of Employment and Labor [Photo = Yonhap News], “The criteria for employment insurance application are set to be reformed from the current work hours to income.”
On the 7th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced a legislative notice for amendments to the ‘Employment Insurance Act’ and the ‘Act on the Collection of Employment and Industrial Accident Insurance Premiums.’ If the amendment is passed, the criteria for employment insurance, which has been maintained for 30 years since the implementation of employment insurance in 1995, will change from work hours to income.
As a result, workers will be able to join employment insurance regardless of their working hours as long as their income exceeds a certain level. This measure is interpreted as an effort to protect vulnerable workers who cannot join employment insurance due to changes in employment forms.
According to the current law, only workers who work more than 60 hours a month (more than 15 hours a week) are eligible for employment insurance. Freelancers or platform workers, who have difficulty estimating working hours or work multiple short-term jobs, have faced challenges in joining employment insurance.
In the future, even if the income from each job falls short of the criteria, workers with multiple jobs can join employment insurance if their total income exceeds the criteria.
Kwon Chang-jun, the Vice Minister of Labor, said regarding the amendment, “The amendment has laid the groundwork for employment insurance to take a step further as a universal employment safety net for all working individuals.”
The legislative proposal will undergo consultations with relevant departments for the next 40 days before being submitted to the National Assembly in October.
This legislative notice reflects the outcomes of discussions held 11 times between labor, management, and experts since March 2023 and was reviewed and approved by the Employment Insurance Committee.