All National Employment Insurance roadmap presented… Expect controversy such as sharing insurance premiums

Reaching the limit of employment insurance introduced in the 1990s… Expansion of targets applied to advanced countries

The specific operation method is undecided… Also raised concerns about fiscal soundness

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-jae = On the 23rd, the government released a blueprint for the’All National Employment Insurance’ that applies not only to wage workers, but to all employed, including specially employed (special high school), platform workers, and self-employed.

In May, it has been 7 months since President Moon Jae-in officially announced the step-by-step promotion policy of the former National Employment Insurance in a special speech to the public on the 3rd anniversary of his inauguration.

This year, as the new coronavirus outbreak (Corona 19) reveals how vulnerable the existing employment safety net is, the need for the entire national employment insurance has grown more than ever.

National employment insurance is also in line with the global trend of building an employment safety net for all employed people.

However, controversy is expected to be inevitable over the specific method of applying employment insurance to special advisors, platform workers, and self-employed people. Concerns over the fiscal soundness of employment insurance cannot be ignored.

◇ All national employment insurance is an irreversible trend… Reorganization of income-based insurance system is key

The contents of the former National Employment Insurance Roadmap announced by the government on this day are largely summarized in two ways.

The first is to increase the number of subscribers to 21 million by 2025 by phasing out the targets of employment insurance, and gradually expanding them to platform workers and self-employed, and the second is to convert the basis of the employment insurance system from wages to income for this purpose.

Employment insurance, introduced in 1995, played a key role in overcoming the International Monetary Fund (IMF) financial crisis in the late 1990s and the financial crisis in the late 2000s, but it was pointed out that it lags behind changes in the labor market.

At the time of introduction, employment insurance was designed based on regular workers. When the monthly working hours are over a certain level, a typical method is that the employer reports the insured status to the Labor Welfare Corporation and pays the insurance premium along with the monthly salary.

However, after the financial crisis of the IMF, non-regular workers such as temporary and daily workers spread rapidly, and various types of employment such as special high school appeared. In recent years, with the development of digital technology, the number of platform workers working through smartphone apps is increasing rapidly.

Many of them are in the blind spot because it is difficult to subscribe to employment insurance designed on the basis of regular workers. Employment insurance has become a situation where it cannot function properly as an employment safety net.

Although major developed countries also differ from country to country, they are creating an employment safety net for all employed in response to changes in the labor market.

With the enactment of the Act on the Freedom to Choose a Professional Future in 2018, France has established employment insurance for all employed people. In order to expand the employment insurance finances, the social security tax of the employed was also raised.

Sweden also operates an employment insurance covering all employed persons. Sweden’s employment insurance system consists of basic insurance that is subject to mandatory subscription and income-linked insurance that is subject to voluntary subscription.

The government decided to overhaul the employment insurance system based on income information so that all employed people can subscribe to employment insurance, referring to cases in developed countries.

If employment insurance is income-based, even ultra-short-time workers who cannot subscribe to employment insurance due to their short monthly working hours can subscribe if their income is above a certain level. Those with multiple jobs, such as so-called’two job’ workers, can join based on their combined income.

In establishing income-based employment insurance, it is important to properly grasp the income information of platform workers and self-employed people.

Among the special notices, the government is pushing ahead with a plan to identify income information by shortening the submission of the simplified business income payment statement from half year to month for jobs in which the employer collects monthly income, such as insurance planners.

For occupations, such as a parcel delivery engineer who reports semiannual VAT without withholding from the employer, the National Tax Service provides an electronic tax invoice of the special notice to the Korea Labor Welfare Corporation every month to determine the income. The subject of mandatory issuance of electronic tax invoices is also expanded.

In the case of platform workers, platform companies are required to withhold and pay insurance premiums for each transaction and report transaction details.

The government plans to establish a plan to apply employment insurance for self-employed persons through social dialogue.

◇ Expected controversy over insurance premium sharing and financial soundness

The government has prepared the entire national employment insurance roadmap, but the specific operation method has not been decided yet.

The roadmap also included special notices, which could be acute issues, and how to pay insurance premiums for platform workers.

At a briefing, Minister of Labor Lee Jae-gap said, “The matters determined by the Employment Insurance Committee are that in the case of unemployment benefit insurance premiums, it is the principle of paying the premiums evenly between labor and management.” I will decide.”

As for the insurance premiums of platform workers, if the platform company signs a labor provision contract with the worker, the platform company can pay the burden of the business owner, and if the worker has a contract with an agent, the company can pay the burden of the business owner, Lee explained.

In a commentary on the National Employment Insurance Roadmap, the Korean Federation of Employers Association (Gyeonggi-do) warned that “if the premium sharing is not properly calculated according to the dynamics between employers and employees, it will inevitably lead to management and employment insecurity.”

It is also pointed out that financial soundness may deteriorate if the subject of employment insurance is rapidly expanded.

According to the results of the Korea Labor Institute’s 2021-2025 employment insurance financial estimates, from next year, 49.9 billion won was expected for five years due to the special employment insurance subscription, but in 2025, the expenditure was 17.6 billion won higher than the income.

“Financial estimates are possible only when plans for applying employment insurance to self-employed persons are confirmed,” said the minister, and emphasized that fiscal monitoring will be strengthened to balance income and expenditure.

The labor community is positively appraising the government’s efforts to build up the entire national employment insurance policy, but is also calling for a more rapid pace in expanding the scope of employment insurance coverage.

The National Federation of Democratic Trade Unions (FKTU) pointed out, “If we go slowly and step by step according to the government’s plan, the situation of Corona 19 will prolong and occur frequently. It is questionable whether the employment insurance system can properly play a role in a crisis situation.”

Along with the introduction of all national employment insurance, the government is also promoting plans to expand parental leave benefits, which have been applied only to workers, to platform workers and self-employed.

The KCTU evaluated, “It is meaningful to review the application of maternity leave benefits to special high schools and platform workers, and then to apply maternity leave benefits.”

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2020/12/23 18:07 sent