Seoul City to Provide Up to 1.5 Million Won in Unpaid Leave Support for 10,000 Workers at Companies with Fewer Than 50 Employees... Applications Open on the 10th

36,984 Applicants Over 3 Rounds... Employment Stability and Livelihood Support for Workers at Companies with Fewer Than 50 Employees in Blind Spots

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 3rd that it will provide the 4th round of unpaid leave support payments to 10,000 small business owners and employees of small enterprises suffering from employment instability due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Workers at Seoul-based companies with fewer than 50 employees who have taken unpaid leave for 7 days or more per month will receive a fixed monthly payment of 500,000 KRW, up to a maximum of 1.5 million KRW over 3 months.

The 'Unpaid Leave Worker Support Fund' is a system designed to support unpaid leave for workers at small businesses and small enterprises with fewer than 50 employees, who face practical difficulties in taking paid leave and fall into the blind spots of the government's employment retention support measures. Those who have received the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd unpaid leave support payments can apply again, and the support fund is directly deposited into the bank account of the 'worker.'

This 4th round of the 'Unpaid Leave Worker Support Fund' is a safety net fund aimed at supporting livelihood stability until the COVID-19 endemic economic revitalization period, helping to maintain employment stability through unpaid leave rather than layoffs or unemployment amid ongoing business difficulties caused by the resurgence of COVID-19 in the second half of last year and the spread of Omicron earlier this year.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to invest a budget of 15 billion KRW to support at least 10,000 unpaid leave workers. Priority will be given to workers in small businesses and special employment support sectors, and if the budget is exceeded, selection will be based on workers who have been enrolled in employment insurance for a long period at their current companies.

The support targets are workers at Seoul-based companies with fewer than 50 employees, including small business owners and small enterprises, who have taken unpaid leave for 7 days or more per month and maintain employment insurance until July 31 of this year. Up to 49 workers per company with fewer than 50 employees in Seoul can apply. The application period is from the 10th to June 30th, and for workers who find it difficult to apply on weekdays, applications can also be submitted via email on holidays and weekends.

To facilitate prompt document submission, review support, and telephone guidance, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to assign two administrative support personnel per autonomous district. Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Seoul's Economic Policy Office, stated, "The Seoul unpaid leave worker support fund is a project initiated based on the judgment that it is necessary to maintain employment and livelihoods for small business owners and workers at small enterprises who have had no choice but to take unpaid leave during the COVID-19 spread period. We will simplify procedures and provide payments quickly to maintain the employment base until the economic revitalization period after the COVID-19 endemic and to serve as a support pillar for workers."