'Self-Employed Employment Insurance Premium' Up to 50% Support... 10,000 Small Business Owners Benefit

Self-Employed Workers and Small Business Owners with Employees Also Included in Support
"Employment Insurance Plays a Role in Life Stability and Re-Startup Preparation Upon Closure"

Archive photo / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Starting this November, any small business owner enrolled in employment insurance will be able to receive support for up to 50% of their employment insurance premiums simply by applying.

The amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Protection and Support of Small Businesses (Small Business Act Enforcement Decree), which expands the scope of small business owners eligible for support of self-employed employment insurance premiums, passed the Cabinet meeting on the 16th.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has been providing support covering 20-50% of premiums for up to five years only to small business owners without employees to reduce the insurance premium burden for those enrolled in self-employed employment insurance. However, with this amendment to the enforcement decree, any small business owner enrolled in employment insurance can now receive partial support for their premiums simply by applying.

As of the end of last year, it is estimated that about 10,000 out of approximately 37,000 small business owners enrolled in self-employed employment insurance will be newly included in the support target this time.

The support budget is expected to increase from 2.56 billion KRW last year to 3.63 billion KRW this year. The number of self-employed individuals receiving premium support has increased annually from 5,547 in 2019 to 10,145 in 2020, and 14,679 last year.

This amendment to the enforcement decree is part of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s national agenda to achieve the "complete recovery and new leap forward of small business owners and the self-employed," and was implemented within 100 days after the new government took office. The amendment is scheduled to take effect on November 24, three months after its promulgation.

Lee Jang-hoon, head of the Small Business Management Support Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, explained, "Self-employed employment insurance serves as a stepping stone for small business owners to maintain livelihood stability and prepare for job transition or re-startup when closure is inevitable." He added, "We plan to collaborate with the Ministry of Employment and Labor to guide many small business owners to enroll in self-employed employment insurance and receive premium reduction benefits."