The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said on the 21st that a preparatory task force to support the establishment of the K-Labor Welfare Chamber will launch. The K-Labor Welfare Chamber is an organization whose main business will be retirement mutual aid for nonstandard workers such as delivery drivers, and the ministry is pushing to establish it.
That day, the ministry held the first meeting of the preparatory task force for the Labor Welfare Chamber at the Bizhub Seoul Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Fourteen experts in law, labor-management relations, the employment safety net, and taxation attended.
At the meeting, Minister Kim Young-hoon said, "As nonstandard work spreads, it is no longer easy to close the blind spots simply by broadening the framework of existing systems." He added, "Because this is an unprecedented new project, there will be many issues to discuss going forward and many differences of opinion," and said, "I hope a safety net for nonstandard work will be designed based on in-depth discussions."
During the meeting, participants noted that individuals are bearing income gaps during periods when they cannot work due to illness, leave, or unemployment. They also suggested that, given the characteristics of service providers who move among multiple jobs and platforms, a system is needed in which welfare benefits accumulate around the individual.
An official at the ministry said, "We will flesh out the key points by September after discussions on the functions, organization, and funding plan for the K-Labor Welfare Chamber," adding, "We plan to continue discussions through the end of the year."