Changing workplace on an E-9 — the reasons that do not use up a count

E-9 workers are told they get "three changes". That is half the rule. The other half is that a change for a reason that is not your fault does not use one up — and there is a published notice listing exactly what counts.

Short answer

Counted changes      3 during the initial period, plus 2 more after re-employment

NOT counted          Article 25(1)2 — reasons not attributable to the worker
                     (Article 25(4) proviso)

Deadline             within 1 MONTH of the labour contract ending, or you must leave
                     Extended where injury, illness, pregnancy or childbirth prevented
                     you from applying — counted from when that ended

Two applications     the Employment Centre AND the Ministry of Justice
                     Working without the second → deportation, or up to 1 year in
                     prison or a 10 million won fine

The three grounds

Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, Article 25(1):

1  the employer intends to terminate the contract with just cause,
   or refuses to renew it on expiry                                  → counts
2  reasons NOT attributable to the worker — shutdown, closure,
   cancellation of the employment permit, dormitory problems,
   breach of working conditions, unfair treatment                    → does NOT count
3  injury or similar making this workplace unsuitable, while work
   elsewhere remains possible                                        → counts

Article 25(4) sets the limits at three changes, and two more during a re-employment extension — then its proviso removes ground 2 from the count entirely.

So the practical question is never "how many do I have left". It is which ground applies, and that is decided by Ministry Notice No. 2021-30.

What the notice actually lists

Shutdown, closure and insolvency (Article 2)

· shutdown or leave at under 70% of average wage for 2+ months in the year before applying
· shutdown or leave at under 90% of average wage for 4+ months in that year
  (apply while it continues, or within 4 MONTHS of it ending)
· closure filed · bankruptcy or liquidation commenced · dishonoured bills and
  suspension of transactions · construction or project completed · operations stopped
  with no prospect of resuming
· resignation on the employer's recommendation for business reasons — transfer, merger,
  partial closure, change of business type, downsizing, new technology changing the work
· the employer will not take you on or assign you to a workplace, through no fault of yours
· resignation on the employer's recommendation because the off-season or a fishing ban
  makes wages impossible

Employment permit cancelled or restricted (Article 3)

· the permit was obtained by improper means · the wages or conditions agreed before
  your entry were breached · labour law violations such as wage arrears caused the
  permit to be cancelled, ending the contract
· you were made to work at a workplace not stated in the contract, and the employer's
  hiring was restricted as a result
· the employer terminated the contract before your job training ended without
  unavoidable cause, and their hiring was restricted

Breach of working conditions (Article 4)

This is where most real cases live, and every line has a number in it.

· 30% or more of monthly wages unpaid or late for over 2 months
· 30% or more unpaid or late on 2 or more occasions
· 10% or more unpaid or late for over 4 months
· 10% or more unpaid or late on 4 or more occasions
· paid below the minimum wage
  (apply while the arrears continue, or within 4 MONTHS of them ending;
   a simple calculation error does not count)
· wages or hours cut by 20% or more from what was offered at hiring, for 2+ months in
  the year before applying (while it continues, or within 4 months of it ending)
· your shift moved 2 or more hours earlier or later without your consent,
  continuing for 1 month or more within the year
· a serious accident from a breach of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
  (apply within 4 MONTHS of the accident)
· injury or illness requiring 3 months or more of treatment
  (apply within 4 MONTHS of returning)
· injury or illness needing under 3 months off, where the employer took no safety or
  health measures for 1 month after it occurred

Unfair treatment (Article 5)

· sexual assault by the employer, a colleague, or the employer's spouse or direct
  relatives (where urgency is recognised)
· sexual harassment, sexual violence, assault or habitual verbal abuse by the employer
· the same by colleagues or the employer's spouse or direct relatives, within the
  employer's sphere of control
· unreasonable discrimination on grounds of nationality, religion, sex or disability
· being housed in a VINYL GREENHOUSE or a temporary structure that breaches the
  Building Act or the Farmland Act
· refusing to let you work for 5 days or more while paying neither wages nor
  shutdown allowance
· failure to enrol you in compulsory insurance or social insurance, or arrears of
  3 months or more, with no justified reason for ignoring a correction order

Dormitories (Article 5-2)

· providing a dormitory that breaches Enforcement Decree Articles 55 to 58-2 of the
  Labor Standards Act, and not complying with a correction order
· not providing dormitory information, or providing information that differs from
  reality, and not complying with a correction order

The second line matters even if your dormitory is legal: being told something untrue about it is itself a ground.

When the evidence is unclear (Article 6)

Where accounts conflict or evidence is thin, the Rights Protection Council (a subcommittee) may still recognise a ground — including situations equivalent to Articles 2 to 5 where continuing work is not reasonably possible.

Deadlines decide more cases than grounds do

Read the parenthetical deadlines again. Four months recurs throughout, and the overall application window is one month from the contract ending.

A ground that clearly applies is worth nothing once the window closes. If something on the lists above has happened to you, start now — call 1350, which offers foreign-language counselling.

The one-month window is extended where occupational injury, illness, pregnancy or childbirth made applying impossible; it then runs from when that situation ends.

Two permissions, not one

The Employment Centre application is not the whole procedure. Immigration Act Article 21 separately requires permission from the Minister of Justice to change or add a workplace.

Working without it is a ground for deportation (Article 46(1)9) and carries up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won (Article 95(6)). The fee is 120,000 won, or 96,000 won filed online — see Korean visa fees.

Frequently asked questions

My employer says I have used all three changes. Ask which ground each change was recorded under. Changes on ground 2 do not count — Article 25(4) proviso.

Wages are late but not by much. The notice works in percentages and months: 30% for 2 months, 10% for 4 months, or repeated occasions. Check your case against those thresholds rather than a feeling.

The dormitory is a greenhouse. That is listed by name in Article 5 of the notice.

Is the notice still current? No. 2021-30 (in force 1 April 2021) is the latest we confirmed. It contains a review provision, so check for amendments before relying on it.

Sources

Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers (외국인근로자의 고용 등에 관한 법률)
   Art. 25 — change of workplace, paras 1 and 4
   Enforcement Decree Art. 30
   https://www.law.go.kr/법령/외국인근로자의고용등에관한법률

Ministry of Employment and Labour Notice No. 2021-30 (in force 2021-04-01)
   "Grounds for change of workplace not attributable to the foreign worker"
   https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/admRulLsInfoP.do?admRulSeq=2100000199671

Immigration Act (출입국관리법)
   Art. 21 (change or addition of workplace) · Art. 46(1)9 · Art. 95(6)

Ministry of Employment and Labour: 1350 · Foreigner information centre: 1345