노인장기요양급여 제공과 근로기준 준수의 문제 – 돌봄종사자의 근로기준법상 휴게보장 현실성에 대하여 –

The government implemented the partially revised Labor Standards Act on July 1, 2018. With the revision, social welfare projects were excluded from projects subject to special recognition for rest time. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said the reason for the revision is to protect basic working conditions for workers by preventing excessive long-term work. Meanwhile, the Long-Term Care Insurance Act provides medical care benefits to the elderly who need care services. Originally, care services were solved informally and humanely within the home. However, in recent years, various causes such as the composition of households, the expansion of women's participation in the labor market, and countermeasures against low birth rate and aging have been combined, and demand is exploding and they can no longer stay in the informal domain at home. Care services are now a commodity that has to be paid for. Along with that, the problem of people engaged in the care industry has also become an object of formal and institutional resolution. General care workers are registered as human lives in long-term care institutions, and when there is a demand for care, they are hired part-time and receive wages based on the “notification on the criteria for providing long-term care benefits and how to calculate salary costs.” Until now, problems related to care workers have been centered on worker character. However, with the emergence of public care institutions such as the establishment of social service centers, regular employment has begun for the caregivers, and limitations of compliance with basic labor standards such as rest time are being revealed. In this article, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's notice on the employment of care workers who provide care services in the form of home visits and the provision of long-term care benefits will make it difficult to comply with the Labor Standards Act.