한국사회법학회

Unemployment benefits are becoming a serious social problem in that they will deprive legitimate beneficiaries or socially disadvantaged people of their rights as well as a leak in insurance finances. In response, the nation recognizes illegal payment as a crime and strengthens punishment and imposes criminal punishment in addition to restrictions on payment, returns and additional collection for violations. However, the causes of fraudulent payments range from poverty and error to intelligent and organized criminal acts. Therefore, it is questionable whether it would be effective to achieve the policy objective of the unemployment benefit plan, called the social safety net, to stipulate uniformly that criminal penalties (punishment, fines) other than administrative sanctions (restrictions on payments, returns, and additional collection) should be imposed without asking the cause of fraudulent payments. Therefore, it would be necessary to specify the type of act of irregular payment of unemployment benefits in the Employment Insurance Act and to apply the sanction criteria differently depending on the reason for the negative payment. In a concrete way Illegal collection by simple errors or poverty would be regulated by administrative sanctions, and criminal penalties could be imposed in addition to restrictions on payment, returns and additional collection for intelligent and organized criminal acts. Especially With regard to criminal punishment, further discussion will be needed on whether to increase the possibility of punishment by simultaneously stipulating it in the Employment Insurance Act and the Criminal Law, as it is now, and whether the Employment Insurance Act will only lead to administrative sanctions and criminal punishment will be regulated in the Criminal Law.