Legal information

Two separate benefits cover this, and you can claim both. Medical care benefit (요양급여) pays the hospital for treating a work injury or work-related illness. Temporary disability benefit (휴업급여) replaces part of your pay for the days you cannot work while being treated: 70 percent of your average daily wage. Both come from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (근로복지공단), not from your employer, and your visa type is not one of the conditions. The one thing that shrinks both benefits for many foreign workers is a wrongly calculated average wage, so that is the number to watch.

What does the medical care benefit actually cover?

It is not a cash payment to you. The hospital treats you and bills the Service. The law lists what is included:

• examination and tests
• medicines, dressings, and prosthetics or other aids
• treatment and surgery
• rehabilitation
• hospital stays
• nursing and care
• transport

Treatment has to be at a designated industrial accident hospital (산재보험 의료기관). If you were treated elsewhere because there was no choice, the cost can be paid back to you as treatment expenses (요양비) instead. One limit: if the injury heals within three days, this benefit is not paid at all.

While the Service is still deciding your case, you can use national health insurance (국민건강보험) at the hospital. If your claim is later approved, the part of the copayment that falls under the industrial accident benefit can be claimed back from the Service. Keep every receipt.

How much is the wage replacement?

The daily amount is 70 percent of your average wage (평균임금) for each day you could not work because of treatment. Like the medical benefit, it is not paid if the period is three days or less.

The floor matters for foreign workers in farms, fisheries and small factories: the benefit should not fall below the daily minimum wage even if your contract pay was low.

If treatment goes past two years and your condition is serious and not improving, the Service may switch you from this benefit to an injury and disease compensation pension (상병보상연금). That is a different calculation.

Why is "average wage" the number to fight over?

Average wage comes from the Labor Standards Act (근로기준법): roughly, what you were paid in the three months before the injury, divided by the days in that period. Everything that counts as wages goes in, including overtime, night work, and regular allowances. If the Service cannot work out your wage, the Minister of Employment and Labor sets a figure by notice.

This is where foreign workers lose money. Common problems:

• You were paid partly in cash and your payslips show less than you earned. Bring bank records, messages about pay, and a written statement of your hours.
• Your employer reported a lower wage to the insurance system than it actually paid you.
• Meals and dormitory were deducted or provided in kind, and it is unclear whether their value counts. Ask the Service to explain the figure it used.

Ask for the calculation in writing. If the figure is wrong, you can request a review (심사 청구) of the decision.

How and when is the money paid?

• Each benefit is paid on your claim, not automatically. The hospital may file the medical claim for you with your consent; the wage benefit you claim yourself, usually month by month during treatment.
• Once the Service decides, payment is due within 14 days of the decision, into a bank account in your name that you register for benefits.
• You have three years to claim these two benefits. The count starts from each day the right arises, so earlier months expire first.

If you are thinking of leaving Korea during treatment, raise it with the Service before you go. The wage benefit is tied to days you cannot work because of treatment, and continuing treatment abroad is handled case by case.

Can my employer stop this or deduct it?

No. The employer cannot dismiss you or treat you worse because you claimed. The employer also does not pay these benefits out of its own pocket, so a promise to "pay you something directly" instead of a claim usually means you receive less than the law gives you and lose the record of the accident.

Next step

Work out your average wage from your real pay before you sign any wage figure the employer or the hospital puts in the claim. If the Service used a lower wage than you actually received, or your claim was refused, a lawyer can prepare the review. Our consultations are paid; contact us and a staff member will call to explain the fee.

법무법인 대한중앙
1533-7377

Rules applied

Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (산업재해보상보험법) Article 5 (definitions: average wage follows the Labor Standards Act), Article 36 (types of benefits, paid on claim), Article 40 (medical care benefit, scope, 3-day rule), Article 41 (claim, hospital may file on the worker's behalf), Article 42 (health insurance applies first; copayment refund), Article 52 (temporary disability benefit, 70 percent, 3-day rule), Article 53 (partial benefit, 80 percent), Article 54 (low-income workers, 90 percent and the minimum wage floor), Article 66 (injury and disease compensation pension after 2 years), Article 82 (payment within 14 days of the decision, designated account), Article 103 (request for review), Article 111-2 (no dismissal or disadvantage for claiming), Article 112 (3-year limitation).

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