Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act Passed in National Assembly Plenary Session... Fetal Disabilities Also Recognized as 'Industrial Accidents'

Including Provisions for Retroactive Application

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] A bill recognizing cases where a fetus develops disabilities due to the mother's exposure to harmful environments as 'work-related injuries' has been passed by the National Assembly.

On the 9th, the National Assembly approved an amendment to the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (Industrial Accident Compensation Protection Act) in a plenary session. The amendment includes special provisions for cases where children born suffer injury, illness, disability, or death due to work-related accidents, commuting accidents, or handling/exposure to harmful agents by pregnant workers. It also includes provisions for providing various insurance benefits to the children.

The amendment also contains retroactive application clauses. Even children born before the law's enforcement can be granted industrial accident insurance eligibility if they file and win lawsuits related to insurance benefit payments, provided certain conditions are met.

The current Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act does not recognize disabilities and illnesses in children caused by the mother's work-related factors as industrial accidents, citing that fetuses have no labor capacity or rights to claim industrial accident benefits. However, since last April, when the Supreme Court recognized the children of nurses at Jeju Medical Center exposed to hazardous substances who suffered from congenital heart disease as work-related injuries, calls to recognize fetuses as subjects of industrial accident recognition have grown stronger.