Work injury compensation in Korea — the Act never asks your nationality

Three beliefs stop injured foreign workers from claiming, and all three are wrong. "I am a foreigner, so it does not cover me." "I never paid into it, so I cannot claim." "My boss never registered me, so there is no insurance." The statute answers each of them in a single line.

Short answer

Who is covered      every business that employs workers — NO nationality condition
Who pays            the employer, in full. Workers contribute nothing.
When cover starts   the day the business started, registered or not
While you cannot work   70% of average wage
Deadline            3 years to claim (5 for disability, survivor and funeral benefits)

No nationality condition exists

Article 6:

This Act shall apply to all businesses or workplaces that employ workers. Provided, that it shall not apply to businesses prescribed by Presidential Decree, in consideration of risk rate, scale, location and other factors.

Article 5(2) then defines "worker", "wage", "average wage" and "ordinary wage" by reference to the Labor Standards Act.

That is the whole test: are you a worker under the Labor Standards Act? Nationality and status of stay appear nowhere in the qualifying provisions.

We have not read the case law on how courts have applied this, so we do not claim "the courts have held that…". We are quoting the statute as it stands.

The exclusions in the proviso to Article 6 sit in the Enforcement Decree, which we have not verified — if someone tells you your workplace is excluded, ask them to name the provision.

You never paid a premium, and that is the design

Insurance Premium Collection Act, Article 13:

Paragraph 2   employment insurance — the WORKER's share is defined here
              (own remuneration × half the unemployment benefit rate)

Paragraph 5   industrial accident insurance — "the premium PAYABLE BY THE EMPLOYER
              shall be the sum of each worker's remuneration × the industrial
              accident insurance rate"

There is no worker-contribution provision for industrial accident insurance at all. Not a reduced share — none. So "I did not pay in" is not a reason you cannot claim; no worker pays in.

Your employer's paperwork is not what creates the cover

Insurance Premium Collection Act, Article 7(2):

In the case of a business in which the employer becomes a compulsory subscriber to industrial accident insurance under Article 5(3), the insurance relationship shall be established on the day the business commenced.

The insurance relationship arises by law on the day the business started. Registration by the employer is not a condition of it. An employer who never filed anything has not thereby left you uninsured.

What we did not check is how much COMWEL recovers from an unregistered employer after paying out — that sits in separate provisions we have not read. It is a question for 1588-0075, and it is the employer's problem, not the barrier to your claim.

What counts as a work-related accident

Article 37(1) lists three families.

Accidents at work

a  an accident while performing work under the employment contract, or acts incidental to it
b  an accident from a defect or poor management of facilities the employer provided
d  an accident during an event the employer organised or that you attended on the
   employer's instruction, including preparation for it
e  an accident DURING A BREAK, from an act regarded as under the employer's control
f  other accidents connected with the work

Item (e) is the one people give up on too early. A break is not automatically outside the scope.

Occupational disease

a  disease from exposure at work to physical agents, chemicals, dust, pathogens,
   or work that places strain on the body
b  disease caused by a work-related injury
c  disease caused by occupational mental stress arising from WORKPLACE BULLYING or
   abusive language from customers (Labor Standards Act, Art. 76-2)
d  other diseases connected with the work

Item (c) exists in the statute. Harassment-induced illness is not an argument you have to invent — it is a listed category.

Commuting

a  commuting under the employer's control, such as in transport the employer provided
b  OTHERWISE COMMUTING BY THE USUAL ROUTE AND MEANS   (added 24 October 2017)

Item (b) covers the ordinary journey to and from work by your normal route — your own bus, your own bicycle, your own walk.

The limits

The proviso: no work-related accident where there is no substantial causal relationship between the work and the harm.

Article 37(2): injury, disease, disability or death caused by the worker's intentional act, self-harm or criminal act is excluded — unless it happened in a state of markedly reduced normal cognitive capacity for reasons prescribed by Presidential Decree.

What you can receive

Article 36(1) lists eight benefits:

medical care · temporary disability · permanent disability · nursing care
survivors' · injury-disease compensation annuity · funeral expenses · vocational rehabilitation

Medical care benefit (Article 40) covers treatment at a designated medical institution: examination and testing, medicines and prosthetics, procedures and surgery, rehabilitation, hospitalisation, nursing and care, transport, and other items set by Ministry ordinance. Paragraph 3 excludes injuries or illnesses curable within three days.

Temporary disability benefit (Article 52) pays 70% of average wage per day for days you could not work because of treatment — again not payable if the period is three days or less.

Partial temporary disability benefit (Article 53) covers returning part-time during treatment: 80% of the difference between average wage for that day and what you actually earned that day.

Article 36(3) adjusts average wage annually once a year has passed since the calculation date, tracking overall wage growth (or, after age 60, consumer prices).

Nothing arrives unless you claim it

Article 36(2): benefits are paid on the application of the person entitled. COMWEL does not find you.

Article 112(1): the right to benefits lapses after three years — five years for permanent disability, survivors', funeral expenses, and the pneumoconiosis annuities.

Article 113 is worth knowing if your case is complicated: a claim under Article 36(2) interrupts the limitation period, and where it is the first claim requiring a decision on whether the accident was work-related, the interruption extends to the other benefits too. One filed claim protects the rest.

One caution, from Article 84(1)1: benefits obtained by false or fraudulent means are recovered at twice the amount paid.

Frequently asked questions

I am undocumented. Should I still claim? The Act's coverage provisions turn on being a worker, not on status of stay. This is a genuinely difficult decision with other consequences, so get advice first rather than guessing — COMWEL on 1588-0075, or the Ministry of Employment and Labour on 1350, which offers foreign-language counselling.

My employer wants to pay me privately instead of reporting it. That is the employer's preference, not your obligation, and it costs you the medical care, the 70% payments and any later disability benefit. The claim is yours to file.

I was hurt on the way to work. Article 37(1)3(b) covers commuting by the usual route and means. Note the date and route while you still remember them.

The injury seems minor. Both medical care and temporary disability benefit exclude cases resolved within three days. Beyond that, file — Article 113 means an early claim also protects your position on benefits you may need later.

Sources

Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (산업재해보상보험법)
   Art. 5 (definitions) · Art. 6 (scope) · Art. 36 (types of benefit, claim, adjustment)
   Art. 37 (recognition of work-related accidents) · Art. 40 (medical care)
   Art. 52 (temporary disability) · Art. 53 (partial temporary disability)
   Art. 84 (recovery of wrongful gains) · Art. 112 (prescription) · Art. 113 (interruption)
   https://www.law.go.kr/법령/산업재해보상보험법

Act on the Collection of Insurance Premiums for Employment Insurance and
Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance
   Art. 7 (date the insurance relationship is established) · Art. 13 (premiums)

Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (COMWEL): 1588-0075
Ministry of Employment and Labour: 1350