Gyeonggi Province Launches Nation's First 'Delivery Workers' Industrial Accident Insurance 90% Subsidy Program'

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon Reporter] Gyeonggi Province will begin recruiting eligible recipients from April 19 for the '2021 Delivery Workers' Industrial Accident Insurance Support Project,' which the province has introduced for the first time in the nation to create a safe working environment for platform delivery workers.

According to the province on the 15th, this project has been established as a new labor policy by Gyeonggi Province in response to the situation in which, despite increased work intensity and risk for delivery platform workers due to COVID-19 spread and the expansion of digital platform labor, institutional protective measures for these workers remain inadequate.

This year, the province will support 2,000 delivery riders and quick delivery service workers in the province by covering 90% of their industrial accident insurance premiums. The insurance premium support period extends up to one year, with retroactive application from January this year.

The project will accept applications on a first-come, first-served basis by quarter starting in April. Support will be provided once industrial accident insurance enrollment and premium payment are confirmed through the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service.

The application period for the first round runs from April 19 to May 14, the second round from July 19 to August 13, and the third round from October 18 to November 12, each spanning 29 days.

Applicants must be specially employed workers engaged in food or quick delivery service, who either maintain a residential address within the province or perform delivery work within the province as of the date of the announcement. However, small and medium enterprise employers with workers' compensation insurance rather than special employment industrial accident insurance are not eligible for support.

Applications can be submitted by the worker themselves or by an employer's representative. Applicants must apply through the Gyeonggi Job Foundation's Integrated Job Support Project Application System (apply.jobaba.net) within the application period. Mobile users can also apply through the 'Jobaba' application.

Required documents include the Delivery Workers' Industrial Accident Insurance Premium Support Application Form (completed within the integrated application system), Personal Information Collection, Use, and Third-party Provision Consent Form (completed within the integrated application system), a copy of the applicant's bank account book, and Special-form Worker annual/individual insurance premium inquiry records, among others.

In particular, 300 teenage delivery workers under 19 years of age and 400 newly enrolled in industrial accident insurance in 2021 will receive priority support. Teenage applicants must submit consent documents from legal representatives as stipulated in Article 5 of the Civil Act.

All supporting documents are valid only if issued within one month from the announcement date (recruitment date).

The province expects that through this project, the industrial accident insurance enrollment rate of delivery workers will increase, providing significant support in disaster prevention and protection for delivery workers previously excluded from the social safety net, as well as helping restore their self-respect as workers and improving public perception.

Kim Kyou-sik, Head of the Labor Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "This project aims to provide a social safety net to delivery workers in the blind spot of safety and create a fair working environment," and added, "Going forward, we will do our best to create a safe and fair working environment with a commitment to supporting the weak against the strong."

For detailed information about the project, inquiries can be made to the Public Interest Jobs Team of the Employment Growth Division at the Gyeonggi Job Foundation (031-270-9791, 9854, 9672).