Legal information

You file it yourself, with the Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (근로복지공단, Comwel), and no, your employer does not have to sign it. The claim is a request for the medical care benefit (요양급여), the form is a few pages, and the key attachment is written by your doctor, not by your boss. Comwel decides whether the injury counts as work-related; the company is asked for its opinion, but it cannot block the claim.

The rest of this article walks through the form, where it goes, what Comwel does with it, and what you can do if the answer is no.

Which form do I use?

The form is called the medical care benefit application (요양급여신청서). In practice the same form usually also asks for the lost-pay benefit (휴업급여), so you tick both. Three things go in or with it:

1. Your part. Name, foreign registration number or passport number, the company name, and a plain description of how the accident happened (재해발생 경위). Write it in Korean if someone can help; if not, write it in your language and attach it. A bad Korean sentence is better than no description. 2. The doctor's part. A medical opinion (소견서) from the hospital that treated you, stating the diagnosis and the expected treatment period. The hospital's insurance desk (원무과) knows this form. 3. Attachments. Anything that shows you worked there and were on duty: a copy of the contract, a payslip, a photo of the attendance board, the message you sent the manager on the day.

Comwel's website has the form in Korean. Several migrant worker support centers keep translated guides to it, and the center can often sit with you while you fill it in.

Where does it go, and can the hospital send it for me?

The claim goes to the Comwel branch that covers the address of your workplace. You can hand it in on paper, send it by post, or have it filed online through Comwel's portal if you have a Korean ID login.

Many designated hospitals will file it on your behalf if you agree. This is the easiest route for a worker who cannot read the form: the hospital fills in the medical side, you sign the consent, and it is sent. Ask at the insurance desk on your first or second visit whether they offer this (산재 신청 대행). If they say the employer has to agree first, that is wrong, and you can file directly.

What about the employer's signature?

Older versions of the form had a box for the employer's confirmation, and many managers still believe the claim cannot move without it. It can. Comwel sends the company a request for its opinion after your claim arrives; the company can disagree, and Comwel then looks at the evidence. Silence from the company is not a refusal of your claim either.

If the company tells you "we did not register you for insurance, so you are not covered", that is also not the end. Whether the company paid its premiums is a matter between the company and Comwel. The worker's right to claim does not depend on it.

What happens after I file?

• Comwel confirms it has received the claim and gives the case a number. Keep it; every later call starts with that number.
• A caseworker may call you to ask about the accident. Say in advance if you need an interpreter, and give the number of a friend or support center worker who can relay if the call comes in Korean.
• The company is asked for its account. If the two accounts differ, Comwel may visit the site or ask coworkers.
• For a clear-cut accident the decision often comes within a few weeks; occupational diseases, where a committee must judge whether the work caused the illness, take much longer.
• Once approved, the hospital bills Comwel directly from that point, and you can ask for the refund of what you already paid out of pocket, including the part you paid under health insurance while waiting.

The lost-pay benefit is paid separately, for the days a doctor certified you could not work, at 70 percent of your average wage. You claim it in periods, usually monthly, with a certificate from the hospital each time.

How long do I have?

The right to claim the medical care and lost-pay benefits runs out three years after it arose. Three years sounds long, but evidence does not keep that long, so file while coworkers still remember. Filing the first claim also stops the clock for the related benefits, so you do not lose the lost-pay benefit by claiming treatment first.

What if Comwel says no?

A refusal comes in writing (불승인 결정). You have two layers of appeal inside the system before a court:

Comwel has to decide the first review within 60 days, which it may extend once by up to 20 days. For a decision that went through the occupational disease committee, you may skip the first review and go straight to the second.

An appeal is where a lawyer or a certified labor attorney (노무사) makes the most difference, because the argument is about medical causation and the papers are in Korean.

Next step

If you are preparing the claim, use our average-wage calculator first so that you can check the lost-pay figure Comwel later sends you. If the claim has been refused, or the company is disputing that the accident happened at work, bring the refusal letter and your hospital papers to a consultation. Consultations are paid; when you contact us, a staff member will call you back and explain the fee.

법무법인 대한중앙
1533-7377

Rules applied

Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (산업재해보상보험법) Article 36 (benefits are paid on the worker's claim), Article 41 (the claim is filed with Comwel with a description of the accident and a medical opinion; a designated hospital may file it with the worker's consent), Article 42 (health insurance may be used until the decision, refund of the co-payment afterwards), Article 52 (lost-pay benefit at 70 percent of average wage, not paid for 3 days or less), Article 103 (review request within 90 days), Article 105 (decision within 60 days, one extension of up to 20 days), Article 106 (re-review request within 90 days), Article 112 (three-year limit for claiming), Article 113 (the first claim stops the clock for related benefits).

This is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different.