[Anchor]
Many people still struggle after failing to receive their severance pay when leaving a company. To ensure that these funds are paid out even if a company runs into financial trouble, the government has announced plans to require all companies to deposit severance pay with external financial institutions.
Reporter Yoo Soo-Hwan has the details.
[Reporter]
Mr. A retired from a manufacturing company in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, last year.
He left the company after his wages began to fall into arrears, but even a year later, he has yet to receive his severance pay.
[Mr. A / Victim of Unpaid Severance Pay: About 13 million won in severance pay was overdue. They would just tell me to wait, saying, 'We don't have the money,' and when I called, they'd ask me to wait another month or two... It makes me worry that if the company goes under, I won't be able to get what's left either.]
Failing to receive severance pay on time is not unique to Mr. A.
Last year alone, 822.9 billion won in severance pay went unpaid.
Consequently, the government has decided to tighten regulations.
The core measure is to prevent companies from keeping severance pay internally and instead require them to accumulate it in external financial institutions such as banks.
The aim is to ensure that these funds remain untouched even if a company faces financial distress.
Currently, this system is primarily adopted by workplaces with 300 or more employees, but starting in 2028, it will become mandatory for workplaces with 100 or more employees, followed by 10 or more employees in 2029, and all workplaces by 2030.
[Lee Hyung-il, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance: We will prevent unpaid severance pay by gradually mandating the external accumulation of severance benefits starting with workplaces with 100 or more employees in 2028.]
However, severance pay accrued before the implementation of the system is exempt, and the rule will apply only to severance pay generated after its introduction.
Additionally, employees will be able to choose and manage their own deposits or funds for the severance pay transferred to these financial institutions.
Authorities stated that they will step up supervision by imposing fines of up to 10 million won on companies that fail to transfer funds to external financial institutions.
(Camera: Lee Sang-hak, Camera: Kim Ho-jin, VJ: Jung Han-wook)
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