April 18, 2024

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South Korea’s biggest food delivery service in terms of market share, Baedal Minjok, will provide financial support for its riders if they have to go into self-quarantine for COVID-19, the company announced Wednesday.

For delivery riders who have to miss work due to a suspected case of COVID-19, Baedal Minjok will pay the minimum wage of 820,000 won ($673) for two weeks. Normally, the company’s riders work eight hours a day, six days a week.

The minimum wage in Korea is 8,590 won per hour in 2020.

The quarantined Baemin rider’s weekly motorcycle rental fee of 83,300 won will be waived and Baedal Minjok will pay 3,230 won per week to cover their occupational health and safety insurance. 

Food delivery app (Baedal Minjok)

“This is a cautionary measure. No Baemin riders were suspected or confirmed of the coronavirus as of now,” said a Woowa Brothers official.

Woowa Brothers, which operates Baedal Minjok, is urging delivery app users to pay in advance using digital payment systems so the delivery workers can leave the food in front of their doors without having to interact face to face.

Woowa Brothers provides masks and hand sanitizer to its riders, as well as to low-income families in the community and to small business owners suffering setbacks due to the coronavirus.

For partner eateries that have had to stop doing business for more than a day due to COVID-19, Woowa Brothers is fully refunding their monthly in-app advertising fees. The company has also formed a fund worth 5 billion won to help the small businesses repay their bank loans.

By Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)