The purpose of the amendment
Until now, workers working for more than one company have been challenged by the fact that insurance benefits are not based on the amount of wages paid by all the companies they work for, and that the work load (e.g., hours worked, stress, etc.) of all the companies is not evaluated together to determine workers' compensation.
For this reason, the Workers' Accident Compensation Insurance Act has been amended in light of changes in the circumstances surrounding side jobs and dual employment, such as the increasing number of part-time workers and those who choose to work in a variety of ways or are working in multiple jobs, from the perspective of creating an environment in which workers in multiple businesses can work safely.
Who is subject to the amendment?
The subject of this revised system is "multi-employer workers". A "multi-employer worker" refers to a worker who has labor contracts with multiple workplaces that are not under the same employer at the time of the disaster (injury, illness, or death due to work or commuting).
Even if you are not in a labor contractual relationship with more than one company at the time of the disaster, if you were in a labor contractual relationship with more than one company at the time of the event that caused or contributed to the disaster, you are covered by the revised system as a "person similar to a multiple business worker". In addition, those with special enrollment in workers' compensation insurance are also subject to the revised system.
Amendments
(1) Insurance benefits for multi-employer workers will now be based on the wages of all companies in which they work. Until now, insurance benefits have only been based on the wages paid at the workplace where the disaster occurred.
(2) Injury, illness, disability, or death caused by multiple occupational factors are also covered by workers' compensation insurance. This new injury or illness that is the cause of payment is referred to as "multiple factor injury". Injury, illness, etc., such as brain and heart diseases and mental disorders are covered.
If the work load (working hours, stress, etc.) of a single workplace does not qualify as an occupational injury, a comprehensive evaluation of the work load of multiple workplaces, etc. is conducted to determine whether or not it can be recognized as a work-related injury. If a worker's accident is recognized as a result of this evaluation, various insurance benefits will be paid based on the above "multiple factor injury".
If a worker's accident certification can be determined based on the evaluation of the workload of only one workplace, it is still considered an "occupational injury" and various insurance benefits related to the occupational injury will be paid. Even in this case, the insurance benefits will be based on the total amount of wages of all the workplaces.
