Gyeonggi Province Establishes 'Irregular Worker Employment Improvement Plan'...Focused on Quality of Life Enhancement and Rest Rights Guarantee

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province will intensively promote policies to improve working conditions for irregular workers, including introducing the nation's first irregular worker fair allowance this year and improving rest facilities for cleaning and security workers.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 5th that it has finalized and will implement the '2021 Gyeonggi Province Irregular Worker Employment Improvement Implementation Plan' containing these measures.

Gyeonggi Province has been prioritizing employment stability and rights protection for irregular workers by achieving a living wage target of 10,000 won, installing rest stops to guarantee rest rights for mobile workers, and supporting regular conversion consulting for irregular workers at universities in the province, with six cleaning workers at Luther University converting to regular positions.

This year, focusing on improving quality of life and guaranteeing rest rights for irregular workers in both public and private sectors, the province plans to intensively promote 3 major sectors, 7 policy tasks, and 38 unit projects: ▲improvement of irregular worker labor conditions in the public sector, ▲improvement of employment structure in the private sector, and ▲strengthening policy implementation foundation for irregular workers.

This comes amid a trend of increasing new forms of irregular work such as COVID-19 spread and platform work, with the wage gap between regular and irregular workers reaching an all-time high of 1.52 million won last year, indicating deteriorating working conditions for irregular workers.

First, to 'improve labor conditions for irregular workers in the public sector,' six tasks will be promoted: irregular worker fair allowance, expansion of living wage, designation and operation of grievance handling officers, inspection of labor condition compliance for indirect contract service workers, improvement of rest facilities, and pre-screening system for irregular worker recruitment.

Notably, 'Gyeonggi Province Irregular Worker Fair Allowance' will be introduced and operated for the first time in the nation, providing 'compensation allowance' proportional to employment insecurity for public sector irregular workers, and the living wage for this year has been set at 10,540 won per hour, approximately 21% higher than the minimum wage.

Second, in terms of 'improving employment structure in the private sector,' the province plans to promote 24 projects including support for improvement of rest facilities for apartment security workers, expansion of labor rights centers, operation of labor and personnel consultation services, activation of self-help meetings for vulnerable workers, support for regular conversion of university indirect contract workers, cultural activities for irregular workers, psychological healing for emotional laborers, and safety education for delivery workers.

As part of these efforts, this year the province will for the first time in the nation provide support for up to 90% of industrial accident insurance premiums for 2,000 delivery riders and others for up to one year, and will provide 250,000 won in vacation allowances to 1,700 irregular workers and special-type workers to guarantee their rest rights.

The province will also make efforts in related institutional improvements. It will promote projects to share workplace inspection authority between the central and local governments, and will also recommend improvements to related laws and regulations such as the 'Building Act Enforcement Decree' and 'Occupational Safety and Health Act' to secure rest facilities for vulnerable workers such as apartment security workers.

In addition, the province plans to expand efforts to guarantee rest rights for vulnerable workers in various fields, including improving rest facilities at 120 apartment buildings, improving rest facilities for field workers at social welfare facilities, and enhancing the environment of rest stops for foreign workers.

Third, to 'strengthen the foundation for irregular worker policy implementation,' the province decided to implement 8 projects including establishment of policy research systems, operation of labor-management-civil-government consultation councils focused on addressing current issues, activation of irregular worker governance, labor situation surveys, and promotion of social dialogue.

First, through survey and research activities such as actual condition surveys on rest facilities in industrial complexes and investigation of methods to prevent wage embezzlement of dispatch and contract workers, the province will establish a solid foundation for policies to improve treatment of irregular workers.

In addition, the province will strengthen governance between public and private sectors or among labor, management, and government by activating irregular worker governance through meetings and consultation sessions, operating field communication-type public-private governance advisory groups, and promoting social dialogue with apartment security workers and others.

Beyond this, the province plans to promote public relations on irregular worker-related labor policies by selecting excellent companies in labor-management cooperation and promoting labor awareness improvement campaigns to encourage active participation.

Kim Gyu-shik, Director of the Labor Bureau, said, "Under the 7th Civilian-led administration, Gyeonggi Province is making pioneering efforts to improve irregular worker employment by installing rest stops to guarantee rest rights for mobile workers and strengthening systematic and professional worker protection through labor consultation and rights remedy at labor rights centers," adding, "This year, we will actively work to realize a fair world where labor is respected by promoting various projects to protect the rights and improve the working environment of irregular workers."