Delivery couriers and other special-type workers, platform workers, and freelancers will be able to enroll in employment insurance going forward. Employment insurance, which only workers who put in 15 hours a week could enroll in, will be overhauled starting in 2027 so that anyone can enroll if they meet a certain "remuneration" threshold.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said on the 25th that revisions to parts of the Employment Insurance Act and the Act on the Collection of Insurance Premiums for Employment Insurance and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance were reviewed and approved at a Cabinet meeting.
According to the amendment, the eligibility standard for employment insurance will change from "contracted working hours" to "remuneration" (earned income under the Income Tax Act minus tax-exempt income) starting Jan. 1, 2027. The remuneration level is delegated to an enforcement decree and has not yet been set.
The ministry said, "If the eligibility standard changes to 'remuneration' going forward, it is expected to help close gaps in employment insurance coverage by linking income data reported to the National Tax Service, checking monthly for workers omitted from enrollment, and enrolling them."
In line with this, the basis for collecting employment and industrial accident insurance premiums will also change from "average monthly remuneration" to "actual remuneration." Going forward, premiums will be assessed using the income information that employers report monthly to the National Tax Service. Until now, because the system was not linked to National Tax Service filings, employers separately reported the prior year's total remuneration for workers to the Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service (K-COMWEL) for premium assessment, but this will be abolished.
In addition, the basis for calculating job-seeker benefits (unemployment benefits) will be changed from the "average wage over the three months before separation" to the "one-year remuneration before separation." The plan is to align the premium calculation basis with the job-seeker benefit calculation basis to provide benefits commensurate with the expense burden.