– Additional points provided to day laborers at construction sites when applying for public rental housing under the condition of putting money aside for a deductible fund for at least one year

– Day laborers excluded as business owners of small-scale construction did not put money aside for a deductible fund, overshadowing the purpose of the law

– Day laborers should be granted additional points if they have worked as construction workers for at least one year, even without accumulating deductible fund payments

 (6, Mar. 2024, ACRC)

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) recommended the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport to include day laborers at construction sites in the list of those eligible for additional points when selecting tenants of public rental housing in cases where they have worked as day laborers in the construction industry for at least one year, even if they have not put money aside for a deductible fund.

Day Laborer A who has worked at construction sites for a significant period submitted a “notice of confirmation for registering as insured of day laborer employment insurance” as evidence material to receive additional points (three points) for construction workers when applying for public rental housing supplied by Corporation.

However, Corporation denied the eligibility of Day Laborer A for additional points and dropped Day Laborer A during action screening on the grounds of having accumulated deductible fund payments with the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association for only 40 days. Eventually, Day Laborer A failed the action screening.

In response, Day Laborer A filed a grievance complaint to ACRC, arguing that it was unreasonable to be discriminated against in the selection of public rental housing tenants on the grounds of the business owner’s failure to put money aside for deductible fund, even though the day laborer at construction site met work period requirements for additional points.

According to the results of a survey conducted by ACRC, even though additional points for construction workers aim to address the housing insecurity of day laborers at construction sites, the “Enforcement Rule of the Special Act on Public Housing” only includes persons who have accumulated deductible fund payments for at least one year under the “Act on the Employment Improvement of Construction Workers.”

However, persons with the obligation of contributing to the deductible fund are limited to those working at construction sites of a certain scale, leading to situations where business owners of small-scale construction do not put money aside for the deductible fund for their workers.

Consequently, the accumulation of deductible fund payments varied depending on the scale of the construction, and there have been problems where the selection of tenants of public rental housing is decided based on the scale of construction at which day laborers worked, overshadowing the purpose of additional points, which aimed to alleviate the housing insecurity of day laborers at construction sites.

In this regard, ACRC recommended the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport grant additional points to construction workers if their work history can be objectively verified through the “notice of confirmation for registering as insured of day laborer employment insurance” issued by the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service, considering the purpose of additional points system for construction workers.

ACRC Vice Chairperson Kim Tae Gyu said, “We must actively address unreasonable discrimination arising from the failure of fully reflecting the purpose of legislation aimed at supporting socially disadvantaged groups. We will remain committed to improving unreasonable institutions and rigorously protecting disadvantaged groups in the housing sector.”