A migrant worker without a visa was working at the workplace and his fingers were severed. To cover it up, the company immediately dismissed the worker and did not pay for treatment. The migrant worker has not complained because he was afraid that he would be forced to leave the country. Can he receive any compensation for this?
Migrant workers without status of residence under the Immigration Act can also benefit from industrial accident insurance coverage. The Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act applies without discrimination to any worker. As in the case of this question, there is no problem for undocumented migrant workers, also called working illegal aliens, to receive compensation under the Industrial Accident Insurance Act. However, there are restrictions when this worker returns to his/her home country. If the foreigner resides in a country other than Korea, the Labor Welfare Corporation will only pay the disability benefit as a lump sum rather than as a pension. Therefore, if a foreign worker already receives a disability compensation pension in Korea, then the beneficiary’s right to receive a pension will expire once he leaves the country. The same applies to compensation for bereaved families. Of course, unpaid compensation will be paid according to the provisions of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.
In this case, it is highly likely that the company did not register the migrant worker with Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance. If the employee works at a workplace where it is mandatory to subscribe all workers to Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance, workers can still receive compensation for workplace accidents and settle them as industrial accidents. Even if an industrial accident occurs at an uninsured workplace, there is no disadvantage to the worker(s) involved, and the employer must pay the retroactive insurance premiums. In addition, the employer has to pay the Korea Labor Welfare Corporation 50% of the insurance benefits (medical care benefits, benefits for suspension of work, etc.) paid to workers.