Agreement with senior care firm Caring covers home visits, hospital accompaniment

Hyundai Green Food President Park Hong-jin (left) and Caring CEO Kim Tae-sung pose for a photo after signing an agreement on elder-care support for employees at Hyundai Green Food's headquarters. [Hyundai Green Food]
Hyundai Green Food President Park Hong-jin (left) and Caring CEO Kim Tae-sung pose for a photo after signing an agreement on elder-care support for employees at Hyundai Green Food's headquarters. [Hyundai Green Food]

Hyundai Green Food announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with Caring, a senior care company, to provide employees with support services for elderly family members — a first in South Korea's food industry. The signing ceremony, held at the company's headquarters in Suji-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, was attended by Hyundai Green Food President Park Hong-jin and Caring CEO Kim Tae-sung.

Caring holds the top market share in South Korea's senior care industry. The company has offered integrated services — including home care, family caregiver support, daytime protection, visiting nursing and welfare equipment — since launching its home visit care service in 2019. Before finalizing the agreement, Hyundai Green Food surveyed employees on the elder-care services they needed and used the results to design the new benefit system.

Under the agreement, employees can access elder-care services through Caring's nationwide network of directly operated facilities, either free of charge or at a discount.

A home visit care service — in which a certified care worker visits the employee's home to assist an elderly family member with meals, medication and personal hygiene — will be available at a standing discounted rate. Employees with family members living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment can request a dedicated care worker who has completed specialized dementia training.

A hospital accompaniment service will be provided free of charge for up to eight hours per year. When an elderly family member needs to visit a hospital for outpatient treatment, hospitalization or surgery but the employee cannot accompany them, Caring's trained staff will assist from arrival through consultation, payment and the return home. A written report summarizing the consultation results, prescriptions and next appointment will also be provided.

A dedicated hotline for free elder-care consultations will also be established. Employees can receive guidance on applying for long-term care ratings suited to their family member's health condition, living environment and care needs, as well as advice on how to use available services. For those requiring more in-depth consultation, a face-to-face session with a Caring-affiliated social worker will be available once a year at no cost.

"As South Korea's elderly population continues to grow, family caregiving — once focused on raising children — is expanding to include aging relatives," Park said. "We will develop a range of welfare programs that help employees with family care responsibilities and create an environment where they can focus more fully on their work."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Green Food has maintained its family-friendly certification since 2016. The certification is granted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to companies and public institutions that operate exemplary family-friendly programs.


andy@heraldcorp.com