Gwangjin-gu Provides Employment Retention Subsidies to Small Businesses Affected by COVID-19

Promotion of the 'Gwangjin-type Small Business Employment Retention Support Project' Providing Up to 1 Million KRW Employment Retention Subsidy to Small Business Owners with Fewer Than 5 Employees Affected by COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) is promoting the ‘Gwangjin-type Small Business Employment Retention Support Project’ to provide employment retention subsidies to small business owners affected by COVID-19.

The ‘Gwangjin-type Small Business Employment Retention Support Project’ is separate from the Seoul city project that supports unpaid leave workers with 500,000 KRW per month. It provides employment retention subsidies of 500,000 KRW per month for two months, totaling 1,000,000 KRW, to small business owners who are not employees but have suffered business losses.

Business owners add a certain amount to the employment retention subsidy supported by the district and pay it to their workers. After receiving the subsidy, they must submit the employment insurance workplace acquisition list within 14 days. The second-month subsidy is paid only after employment retention is confirmed.

Through this project, workers are helped to maintain their livelihoods by preventing unemployment, and business owners are expected to prevent the loss of skilled workers.

The support target is individual business owners with fewer than five employees who have maintained employment from before January 1, 2020, to the application date and whose sales have decreased by more than 50% due to COVID-19 damage.

Applications can be made from April 10 to 30 by visiting in person, online (email), mail, or fax. In-person applications are available at the Gwangjin-type Small Business Support Center and Gwangjin Family Shelter located in the district office from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Registered mail is accepted by the Gwangjin-gu Office Job Policy Division based on the postmark date of the post office by the 30th.

Fax applications can be sent to ☎3425-1775, and email applications (gwangjin123@citizen.seoul.kr) can be submitted even on weekends and holidays. A service is also provided to visit the workplace directly for application submission upon request by small business owners.

Business owners wishing to apply must submit the application form, business registration certificate, employment insurance workplace acquisition list, and other related documents. Proof of COVID-19 damage for businesses started before 2020 is verified by the 2019 and first quarter 2020 value-added tax standard certificates or sales proof documents. For businesses started after 2020, sales proof documents such as sales slips, tax invoices, and bank transaction statements are used to compare the average monthly sales against January to verify the loss.

For more details, contact the Gwangjin-gu Job Policy Division.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “The ‘Gwangjin-type Small Business Employment Retention Support Project’ is differentiated in that it provides subsidies to business owners rather than employees, allowing workers to maintain their jobs and helping business owners solve labor shortages. I hope this will be a small help to small business owners struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation and give us the strength to overcome it together.”