Foreign workers eligible for compensation in South Korea

SEOUL: Under the Labor Standards Act and the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, both Korean and foreign workers are eligible to receive compensation for workrelated injuries.

Filing compensation applications to the Labor Ministry does not require employers’ consent.

Even those illegally staying in the country can receive the money.

Their stay is extended until they finish getting treatment.

Once treatment is over, they are sent to their home countries.

But foreign workers find it difficult to get compensation due to language barriers, low awareness of the scheme and the fear that they will lose their job or be deported if they insist on being compensated.

Many workers without legal status – including Malaysians – find it more difficult to receive the compensation because they are hired on a daily basis and do not sign contracts in many cases.

Local activists said employers tend to cover up cases by giving settlement money to injured workers because a high rate of workplace accidents means they must pay more to the staterun insurance scheme.

Under the law, how much they pay into the scheme depends on the number of industrial accidents at their work sites.

They also have to pay a fine if they are caught hiring unregistered migrant workers.

Migrant workers in South Korea are exposed to a high risk of workrelated injuries, as a large number of them are employed in socalled “3D” jobs – dirty, difficult and dangerous – mostly in the manufacturing and construction sectors shunned by South Koreans.

The South Korean government annually reviews labour shortages in each industry and sets the quota for foreign workers.

According to government data, the number of foreign workers on the Employment Permit System – which invites workers from 16 countries in South and Central Asia to fill labour shortages in manufacturing, fishing and agriculture – was about 275,000 last year.

Malaysia is not one of the 16, which is why Malaysians have no official route to enter the labour market here.

Under the system, a staterun agency in each country selects migrant workers based on their language proficiency and sends them to South Korea to fill jobs in sectors shunned by Koreans due to the low pay and poor working conditions.

The visa allows them to work for up to four years and 10 months.

Demand for lowskilled foreign workers continues to increase among employers, especially small and mediumsized enterprises, as they seek cheaper labour.

They want the government to allow more foreign workers, but it remains cautious due to a public backlash over foreigners taking the jobs of Koreans.