6.4% Increase from This Year’s Original Budget
Industrial Accident Prevention Facility Support Raised to 161 Billion Won
The Ministry of Employment and Labor has set next year's budget at 37.6157 trillion won, marking the largest allocation in its history. This represents a 6.4% increase compared to this year's original budget and is expected to be actively utilized for the prevention of industrial accidents and the establishment of a sustainable labor market, both of which are key priorities of the Lee Jaemyung administration.
On August 31, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that this budget plan had been approved at the Cabinet meeting held on August 29. Budget expenditures increased by 15.3% to 6.633 trillion won, while fund expenditures, including employment insurance and industrial accident insurance, rose by 4.7% to 30.9827 trillion won.
To address blind spots in regional serious accident prevention, a new allocation of 14.3 billion won was set aside. Additionally, 1 billion won was allocated to establish a new “Corporate Safety and Health Disclosure System,” which will require companies to disclose their investments in safety and health as well as their safety and health management systems.
The budget to support industrial accident prevention facilities will be expanded by 45.4%, from 110.7 billion won this year to 161 billion won next year. For accident prevention facilities at small businesses, 43.3 billion won has been allocated.
The job-seeking allowance, which promotes reemployment for the unemployed and job seekers, will be increased by 5.68% to 1.15376 trillion won next year.
Sixty-nine billion won has been allocated to the “Regular Worker Conversion Support Fund” program. The core of this program is to subsidize part of the labor costs for companies that voluntarily convert special employment, freelance, or non-regular workers into regular positions. Originally introduced in 2015, the program was suspended last year due to low execution rates but will be reinstated next year.
To support working parents, the maximum childbirth allowance will increase from 2.1 million won to 2.2 million won, while the maximum spousal childbirth allowance will rise from 1.6 million won to 1.68 million won.
To minimize the burden on employers and colleagues caused by workforce shortages during parental leave, the parental leave support fund will be expanded by 26.7% to 156.6 billion won compared to this year.
The budget for advance payments, which the government provides to cover unpaid wages at bankrupt workplaces, has been significantly increased to 746.5 billion won, up from 529.3 billion won this year.
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