Injury and sickness allowance introduced late… Criticism of “must do it right” before even starting

The first attempt to guarantee the ‘right to rest even if it hurts’ ‘meaning’… A pilot project from tomorrow

Among the OECD member countries, only the United States and Korea are not… ‘Culture to work even if it hurts’ is serious

Criticism of “Long waiting period and low level of guarantee”… “Full-scale introduction should be earlier than 2025”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Byeong-gyu Kim = The sickness and sickness allowance (injury and sickness allowance) system, which guarantees the ‘right to rest when sick’ through allowances, will be introduced for the first time in Korea on the 4th as a pilot project.

There is an expectation that it will play a role in defining the state’s responsibility for the ‘right to rest when sick’ and creating a social atmosphere related to it, but even before the start, criticisms that the design is wrong are not small.

It is pointed out that the level of coverage is too low and the ‘waiting period’, which is excluded from the period of receiving benefits, is too long to be effective.

◇ After 3 to 14 days, 43,960 won per day… “It must be properly implemented”

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 3rd, the pilot project will be carried out for three years in six cities, towns and districts, including Jongno, Seoul and Bucheon, Gyeonggi.

Workers who cannot work due to illness or injury receive 60% of the standard minimum wage (43,960 won) as sickness and sickness allowance. It is divided into three models. Depending on the model, the waiting period is 3 days, 7 days, and 14 days, and the maximum warranty period is 90 days or 120 days.

In introducing the sickness and sickness allowance, Korea lags far behind the world.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the United States and Korea are the only countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that have not introduced sickness and sickness benefits. 163 of the 182 member countries of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) have already implemented it.

Although Article 50 (Additional Benefits) of the National Health Insurance Act stipulates that the National Health Insurance Corporation may pay sickness and sickness allowances as prescribed by Presidential Decree, it is an optional provision, not an obligation, and there is no related content in the enforcement ordinance.

In 1969, the International Labor Organization (ILO) recommended paying more than 60% of income before loss of work ability as sickness and sickness allowance through the ‘Treatment on Medical and Injury and Injury Allowance’. was not introduced

Although the sickness and sickness allowance system is introduced late, civic groups related to welfare and medical care are raising their voices that a ‘proper injury and illness allowance system’ should be introduced.

◇ Small amount and long waiting ‘half price’… Full-scale introduction only in 2025

Civic groups such as the Social Welfare Committee of the Solidarity for Participation, the Free Medical Movement Headquarters, and the Federation of Health and Medical Organizations held a press conference in front of the President’s Office in Yongsan, Seoul on the 30th of last month and said, “The sickness and sickness benefit system that the government is trying to introduce is too long, with a waiting period of up to 14 days, and the waiting period is too high. is as low as 60% of the minimum wage, so it is only half of it,” he criticized.

The waiting period is the period from the start date of the holiday to the start date of the payment of sickness and sickness allowance, and only after this period is over, you will be able to receive the allowance. The government explains that it has set a waiting period to prevent abuse, such as receiving sickness and sickness allowances before taking a leave of absence.

The impetus for the introduction of the sickness and sickness allowance was the poor situation of workers who could not rest in the Corona 19 situation, but it is difficult to receive the sickness allowance even if they get COVID-19. In the case of a 7-day or 14-day waiting period among the pilot project models, the time to receive the sickness and sickness allowance is after the quarantine period (7 days) for COVID-19 has passed.

The level of coverage is also 60% of the minimum wage, which is far below the ILO’s recommended 60% of earnings before loss of work ability. There are many opinions that it will not be the driving force to receive treatment while resting.

Hee-heun Cho, secretary of the Social Welfare Committee of the Solidarity for Participation, criticized, “It is no different than saying that the system should not be used for vulnerable workers who cannot use paid sick leave because their income is not sufficiently preserved at the level of the pilot project and the waiting period is too long.”

◇ The culture of not being able to rest even when sick is ‘serious’… Claims for mandatory paid leave

The government plans to introduce the sickness and sickness allowance system in earnest in 2025 after social discussion after the pilot project, but critics say that it is too slow compared to other countries.

Although the sickness and sickness allowance is a system promoted by the Moon Jae-in government, ‘prompt introduction of the sickness and sickness allowance’ is also President Yoon Seok-yeol’s presidential campaign promise.

According to the report of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (Bo Sa-yeon) in September 2020, ‘The current status of the sick leave system and presentism in Korea and its implications for discussion on the introduction of sickness and sickness allowance’ (Kim Su-jin and Kim Ki-tae), in Korea, workers work without rest even when sick. The ratio of ‘presenteeism’ is particularly high compared to other countries.

The ‘proportion of people who went to work even though they were sick’ (23.5%) was 2.37 times higher than the ‘ratio of people who woke up from sickness’ (9.9%), which was significantly higher than the European average of 0.81 times.

This rate was particularly high among workers in workplaces with 300 or more workers, daily workers, contract workers, and low-wage workers with fixed contracts.

In order for the sickness and sickness allowance system to be effective and to create a culture where people can rest comfortably if they are sick, some say that paid leave, which is left to the autonomy of companies, should be specified in the Labor Standards Act and made compulsory.

According to the report of the National Institute of Health and Welfare, as a result of analyzing employment rule data of 493 private companies nationwide (businesses that employ 10 or more full-time employees), only 42% of companies have a sick leave system in their employment rules, and companies that provide paid sick leave It was only 7.3%.

bkkim@yna.co.kr

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