▲ Officials from the KCTU's Public Transport Union, which are urging the Jeju Medical Center nurses to recognize industrial accidents
The nurses of Jeju Medical Center, who worked while pregnant and gave birth to a child with congenital disease by dealing with harmful substances, were able to receive compensation for industrial accidents in 10 years after the Supreme Court ruling today (29th).
This ruling is accepted as an advanced ruling that broadly interprets the meaning of the provisions of the Workers 'Compensation Insurance Act to protect workers' motherhood.
Supreme Court Division 2 (Judge Sang-Hwan Kim, Supreme Court Justice) today broke the centrifugal ruling that the court filed against the Ministry of Labor and Welfare and filed a complaint against the Korea Labor Welfare Corporation, saying that four nurses from Jeju Medical Center would cancel the dismissal of the workers' compensation claim.
The Supreme Court found that the damage to the health of a fetus caused by a pregnant worker's work is a “working accident” under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.
Even if the child born has a congenital disease, it was judged differently from the centrifuge that it cannot be regarded as a worker's occupational disaster because it is a 'separate person' from the worker himself.
The Supreme Court emphasized, "In the interpretation of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, the mother and the fetus are treated as" one in nature. "
The lawyers in Jeju Medical Center filed a lawsuit to deal with harmful drugs in early 2009, and gave birth to a child with congenital heart disease the following year.
They claimed that the birth of a child with congenital disease was an industrial accident.
The fact that they had to fight in court for 10 years is not irrelevant to the loopholes in the current industrial accident insurance law.
The workers' compensation law states that the workers are covered, so there is no clear basis to pay medical care if a child born to a worker exposed to harmful substances during pregnancy has congenital disease.
In Germany, the relevant law stipulates that if a fetus suffers health damage due to workers 'work, it is subject to workers' compensation.
It is pointed out that the Korean Industrial Accident Insurance Act lags behind in terms of maternity protection.
It does not delicately reflect a woman's biological characteristics, such as pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation.
In September 2018, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended to the Ministry of Employment and Labor that the Industrial Accident Compensation Act should be revised to consider fetal health damage as a work accident.
With the ruling of the Supreme Court today, the revision of the Industrial Accident Insurance Law is expected to gain momentum.
In addition, in March last year, a number of related bills were submitted to the National Assembly, including an amendment to the Workers' Compensation Insurance Act initiated by Democratic Party Democrat Lee Yong-deuk.
When revising the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, a specific system should be prepared, such as the standard for accreditation of workers' health impairment, the level and duration of payments for medical care, and the payment of funeral expenses for children who have died.
The National Federation of Democratic Trade Unions (Democratic Union of Trade Unions), the Public Transport Union's Medical Association Headquarters welcomed the Supreme Court ruling in a statement and said, "As soon as the worker is not a worker, he cannot be a beneficiary of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act." I said. "
The labor industry points out that not only the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, but also the overall domestic labor law lags behind the protection of motherhood.
In order to solve the serious low birth rate problem, it is urgent to improve the protection of maternity in industrial sites, but the improvement of laws and systems is only slow.
The Constitution stipulates that women's work is given special protection, and that the state should strive to protect motherhood.
The labor union argues that motherhood protection should be promoted in accordance with this spirit of constitution.
“The Supreme Court decision is very important in that it not only protects the maternity of workers but also improves working conditions,” said the Medical Solidarity Headquarters.
(Photo = Yonhap News)