Legal information

Go to a hospital first, and go today. A work injury (산업재해, usually shortened to 산재) is covered by a public insurance scheme that pays the hospital and part of your lost pay, but that claim stands or falls on what is recorded on the first day: where you were treated, what the doctor wrote down, and who saw it happen. Your employer's permission is not needed to get treated, and your visa type does not decide whether you are covered.

Everything else, including the claim form itself, can wait a few days. The medical record cannot.

Which hospital should I go to?

If the injury is serious, call 119. The ambulance service is public, the operators can connect an interpreter on the line, and the call itself creates a time-stamped record of where you were picked up. Do not let anyone talk you into "resting in the dormitory and seeing how it feels tomorrow".

If you can travel on your own, ask for a hospital that is a designated insurance medical institution (산재보험 지정 의료기관). Most general hospitals and many local clinics are. The Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (근로복지공단, often called Comwel) lists them on its website; if you cannot search in Korean, show the words 산재 지정 병원 to a coworker or the hospital desk. Treatment at a designated hospital can later be paid directly by the insurance instead of passing through your pocket.

If the nearest place is not designated, go anyway. Being treated is more important than the label, and the cost can be sorted out afterwards.

What do I tell the doctor?

Say clearly, in whatever language you can, that it happened at work (일하다가 다쳤어요). The doctor's note (진단서 or 소견서) should say what the injury is, when it happened and how. If the record says "fell at home" because nobody explained, fixing it later is hard.

Ask for a copy of the diagnosis before you leave, and keep every receipt. Do not throw away the paper the pharmacy gives you either.

Do not tell the hospital to bill it as an ordinary illness under your health insurance just because the employer asked you to. You can use health insurance for now if the insurance decision has not been made yet, and the difference is refunded later; what matters is that the chart says the injury came from work.

What should I collect while it is fresh?

Within the first day, on your phone:

• photos of the injury and of the place where it happened, including the machine, ladder, floor or vehicle
• the names and phone numbers of coworkers who saw it or who helped you afterwards
• a short voice memo or note, in your own language, describing what you were doing and what went wrong
• a screenshot of your shift schedule or attendance app showing you were on duty
• any message you sent or received about the accident, including "are you okay" messages from the manager

Witnesses matter more for foreign workers than for anyone else, because the employer's version is usually in fluent Korean and yours is not. A coworker who is willing to say "I saw it" is worth more than a long explanation.

Do I have to tell my employer?

Tell them, and do it in writing. A KakaoTalk message such as "I was injured at the site at 2 pm today, I am at [hospital name]" is enough. It fixes the date and shows that the company knew.

The employer has their own reporting duties for workplace accidents, but those are the employer's problem, not yours. If the manager says "don't make it official" or "let's handle it inside the company", do not argue on the first day. Note what was said, by whom and when, and keep going to the hospital. A separate article explains why a private settlement usually costs the worker money.

What if I was working without a valid visa?

Industrial accident insurance follows the work, not the residence card. The law applies to every business that uses workers, and a worker whose stay has expired or who was working outside their permit is still a worker who was injured on the job. Treatment and the claim are handled by Comwel, which is not an immigration office.

That said, each case has its own facts, and if your status is irregular, talk to a lawyer or a migrant worker support center before you file, so that you understand what the paperwork will show.

What happens in the first week?

The claim form and what happens after you file it are covered in the next article. The short version: the form goes to Comwel, not to your employer, and the employer's signature is not required.

Next step

If you are already off work and want to estimate what the lost-pay benefit might be, our calculators use the same average-wage formula the insurance uses. If the employer is pressing you to drop the claim, or the hospital record does not say the injury came from work, talk to a lawyer before the record becomes fixed. Consultations are paid; when you contact us, a staff member will call you back and explain the fee.

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Rules applied

Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (산업재해보상보험법) Article 6 (applies to every business that uses workers), Article 37 (what counts as a work-related injury), Article 40 (medical care benefit, treatment at designated medical institutions; injuries healed within 3 days are excluded), Article 41 (the claim is filed with Comwel; a designated hospital may file it on the worker's behalf with the worker's consent), Article 42 (health insurance may be used until the insurance decision is made; the co-payment is refunded later), Article 43 (which hospitals are designated).

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