All workers, including foreigners, can receive compensation for industrial accidents!

Did you know that a fire recently broke out at a company called Aricell in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, killing or injuring a total of 31 people? If you get injured or die while working like this, you can receive industrial accident compensation in Korea. However, it is said that there are still many foreigners who do not know about compensation for industrial accidents.

All workers are eligible for industrial accident compensation

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Maycell, a dispatch company that sent workers to a company called Aricell, signed up for national pension and health insurance among the four major insurances, but did not sign up for employment insurance and industrial accident insurance. However, since industrial accident insurance applies to all businesses, it is not a problem even if you are not enrolled.

All workers can receive compensation regardless of whether they are enrolled in the company's industrial accident insurance. Unregistered (illegal) residents can also receive compensation. However, there are too many foreign workers who do not know this fact.

Looking at the report ‘Social insurance for migrant workers and the four major insurance policy tasks’ published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in May 2021, the question ‘Do you know that industrial accidents can be recognized without company approval?’ was answered with ‘Do you know?’ Only 28.8% of respondents answered ‘yes’.

How much compensation do you receive for industrial accidents?

So how much is the compensation amount under industrial accident insurance? If a person dies while working, the family can receive approximately 60% of the salary the deceased worker received throughout his or her life.

However, if the spouse remarries someone else, the payment stops, and for children, it is paid only until the age of 24 and cannot be received after the age of 25. You can also receive funeral expenses, an amount equivalent to 120 days of average wages. If the deceased worker's wages were high, you can receive a maximum of 18.12 million won, and if your wages were low, you can receive a minimum of 13.05 million won.

Injured people can receive support for full medical expenses and living expenses (70% of their existing salary).

Apply for an industrial accident, not a personal agreement!

Even if foreign workers know that they are eligible for industrial accident compensation, they are bound to experience many difficulties before applying for compensation and receiving actual compensation. Because you don't know Korean.

For this reason, there are many cases where not only illegal immigrants but also legally resident foreigners receive a small settlement amount and deal with it secretly instead of filing an industrial accident claim.

In particular, from the company's point of view, if a worker is diagnosed with an industrial accident, they face various disadvantages from the government, so they often reject the industrial accident application and try to end it by paying a settlement amount.

However, please never respond to the company's request and instead file for an industrial accident. If you only receive the settlement amount, you will not be able to receive any compensation when the aftereffects of the disaster occur later.

All foreign workers working in Korea should not forget this fact!

Mary Eve of Papaya Story