Foreign Workers

One structural fact explains almost every difficulty foreign workers have in Korea: most work visas are tied to a specific employer, so leaving a bad job is an immigration question and not just a resignation. Employers know this, and a minority use it.

The counterweight is that Korean labour law is strong, it applies to you identically, and in important respects it protects you regardless of whether your status is in order. Knowing which parts those are is the most useful thing on this page.

What you are entitled to

A written contract	Stating wages, hours and duties
At least the minimum wage	Set nationally each year, identical for foreign workers
Overtime, night and holiday premiums	For covered employees, on top of base pay
Severance pay	After a year of continuous service
The four major insurances	Pension, health, employment and industrial accident
Industrial accident compensation	For injury at work

That last line is the one to memorise. Industrial accident compensation is designed to cover the worker, and irregular status does not remove the entitlement. A worker injured on site should be claiming, not hiding.

Minimum wage changes every January, so check the current figure rather than trusting a number you read last year. Legal and administrative covers the framework and worker rights covers enforcement.

Before you fly

Get the contract and read it. If it is in Korean, have it translated by someone who is not connected to the employer or the agent.

Check what the job actually is, where it is, what the hours are, what deductions are planned for accommodation and meals, and whether the sector matches your visa. A role that differs from what your visa approves is a problem for you, not for the person who offered it.

Any fee outside an official process is somebody taking your money. This is especially true of promises to speed up a placement.

Unpaid wages, which is the common problem

Late and unpaid wages are the single most frequent serious complaint from migrant workers in Korea, and it is solvable. What decides the outcome is evidence collected while things are still calm.

• Keep your contract, in the language you signed it in.
• Keep payslips and bank records, which show what actually arrived rather than what was promised.
• Keep your own daily record of hours, in your handwriting or on your phone.
• Report it to the labour authorities, not only to your employer. A free counselling line operates for exactly this.
• Get help in your own language. The immigration contact centre on 1345 works in many languages at no cost, and migrant support centres provide interpretation.

Do not accept an arrangement where you leave quietly in exchange for part of what you are owed. You are entitled to all of it, and leaving without status turns a wage claim into an immigration problem you cannot easily undo.

Changing employer

Possible on employer-tied visas, but limited in how many times and for what reasons, and it usually needs immigration approval.

The distinction that matters: where the reason is the employer's fault - wages unpaid, the workplace closing, abuse, conditions that breach the contract - that generally does not count against your allowance. Which is exactly why you document the reason at the time rather than afterwards. Walking out undocumented forfeits a change you were entitled to.

Safety, and the right to refuse

Construction, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing carry real risk, and foreign workers are over-represented in serious workplace injuries in Korea.

You are entitled to protective equipment and training you can understand. If a task is unsafe, raising it is not insubordination. If you are injured, get medical treatment and make sure the injury is recorded as work-related from the start, because reclassifying it later is much harder. Medical and health covers treatment and billing.

Housing, when your employer provides it

Common in manufacturing, agriculture and construction, and the source of a lot of quiet unfairness.

Accommodation provided by an employer may be deducted from your wages, but the deduction has to be agreed and documented, not simply taken. Find out before you arrive what the accommodation is, what it costs, and whether the figure appears in your contract. A deduction that never appeared in writing is worth raising with a labour counsellor rather than accepting.

There are standards too. Dormitory accommodation is expected to be a habitable building with heating, sanitation and reasonable occupancy, and there have been well-publicised cases of agricultural workers housed in unheated temporary structures with fatal results. If your accommodation is unsafe, that is a complaint you can make, and it is also one of the employer-fault grounds that can justify a workplace change.

If you find your own place instead, read essential living first. The deposit system puts a large sum in a landlord's hands and the protections are procedural.

Money home, and the first-month surprise

Use banks or licensed transfer operators and compare the fees, which differ more than people expect. Informal channels through acquaintances carry no recourse and are illegal.

Expect transfer limits on a new foreigner bank account until you provide employment documents. This catches almost everyone trying to send a first salary home. It is removable. Banking covers lifting the limits.

Help that exists and is free

Government-funded migrant support centres, labour counselling lines, free legal consultation and interpretation services all exist and are used far less than they should be. Use them before paying anyone.

Legal consultation covers who offers what. Nepali workers arriving through the Employment Permit System should start at Nepalis in Korea, which covers the EPS process and the Nepali community.

Where this goes wrong

• Paying a broker. Official processes have official costs and nothing else.
• Not having the contract translated by someone independent.
• No record of hours or payslips when wages stop.
• Leaving a workplace without documenting why.
• Hiding a workplace injury. The compensation is yours regardless of status.
• Taking a partial settlement and losing your status.

Where to go next

Worker rights covers how to file a complaint, and the Korea life guide covers setting up your first months.