Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19) - Republic of Korea (Ratification: 2001)

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s report and the reply dated 24 October 2011 to the observations made by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) in its letter of 26 August 2011 concerning the application of the Convention. According to the FKTU, the Republic of Korea is a country with high numbers of industrial accidents in which it is very difficult for documented and undocumented workers to apply for compensation. Migrant workers are often discouraged from filing for claims and forced to sign waivers, or to pay for their medical expenses themselves or to renounce their benefits in exchange for the renewal of their contract of employment. Migrant workers are generally not in position to comply with the complex procedure to prove the occupational nature of their injury and to apply for compensation because of their inability to express themselves in Korean. They are forced to opt for lump sum compensations instead of a pension when they return home; the benefits of the lump sum are less because a partial compensation pension lasts far longer. Migrant workers who decide to remain in the Republic of Korea cannot apply for disability benefits because they cannot apply for the status of a disabled person.

In its reply to the observations of the FKTU, the Government recalls that all foreign workers in the Republic of Korea enjoy protection against industrial accidents in accordance with the Labour Standards Act and the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (IACIA). Foreign workers, just like Korean workers, can apply for compensation even if their employers fail to confirm the details of the accidents. When a foreign worker files a claim for compensation without the consent of his/her employer, the Korean Workers Compensation and Welfare Service (COMWEL) shall immediately conduct a fact-finding investigation to check whether the worker had an industrial accident or not. Under Article 41(1) of the IACIA, to receive medical benefits a person must apply to COMWEL and furnish documents indicating the workplace, the details of the accident, the medical opinions about the accident and other matters prescribed by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Employment and Labour, which require a confirmation by the insurance policy holder (employer) on the details of the accident involving the worker who intends to receive medical benefits. The Government also quotes Section 20(3) of Enforcement Regulations of the IACIA stipulating that, when COMWEL receives an application from a worker without a confirmation from the employer, the latter shall be informed of the facts. The Government states further that booklets have been published in Korean and English as well as in the languages of the ten countries with a large number of foreign victims of industrial accidents in order to ensure that language barriers do not prevent foreign workers from benefiting from the IACIA and that each branch office of COMWEL has an employee who is exclusively in charge of foreign employees.

The Committee notes the information of the Government about the practical measures it has taken to raise awareness of foreign workers about their rights with regard to occupational accidents as well as on the legislative provisions that apply when an employer fails to confirm that his/her employee has been the victim of an occupational accident. The Committee would like the Government to specify what sanctions are established in the legislation against employers who refuse to confirm the occupational accidents of their employees or force them to sign waivers or to renounce their benefits in any other manner. The Committee requests the Government to reply to the other issues raised by the FKTU regarding the payment of lump sum compensation to foreign workers returning to their home country and their inability to apply for a disability pension when they wish to remain in Korea. Please provide statistics requested under Part V of the report form on the number of foreign workers in the country, their nationality, and on the number and nature of the accidents reported in the case of foreign workers. Please also state whether courts of law or other tribunals have given decisions involving questions of principle relating to the application of the Convention (Part IV of the report form).

Article 1(1) of the Convention. Equal treatment of foreign trainees. The Government reports that since the system which excluded foreign trainees from the IACIA was abolished in 2007, foreign trainees, including those who entered the Republic of Korea under the previous system, are considered as “workers with a non-professional employment visa” under the Employment Permit System (EPS) and enjoy the same protection as Korean workers in relation to industrial accidents. The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide a copy of the EPS Act as well as its implementing regulations, identifying the corresponding provisions.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2012.]