By Yi Whan-woo
The government is planning wage subsidies for employees who are currently on unpaid leave due to financial mismanagement by their employers.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor Thursday set out draft guidelines to provide 50 percent of the average wage of workers at companies such as SSangyong Motors for a six month period.
An existing law states that employers are responsible for paying 70 percent of monthly wages to employees over six months when facing financial trouble. Moreover, the government has to pay two-thirds of this 70 percent to small and medium-sized companies and half of this percentage on behalf of conglomerate firms.
However, the policy has shortcomings and needs improvement, said Woo Ji-Hyun, deputy director of the ministry’s labor market policy division.
“The layoff resulted in a massive protest, and the company has put 450 plant workers on unpaid leave since 2009. The workers, however, have not had any support from the government because of the current policy.”
Employers who force their employees onto unpaid leave after suffering financial difficulties can now ask for government support, Lee said.
The ministry will provide support for companies after reviewing their potential to normalize operations.