Korean Daily Worker’s Beneficaires may Receive Survivor Benefits under Korean Workman’s Compensation System

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled that even daily workers are protected as beneficiaries of survivors’ benefits under the Korean Labor Standards Act if the daily worker provides labor and receives wages in a subordinate relationship – thus is an “employee” under the Labor Standards Act of Korea.

Korean Industrial Accident Compensation for
Daily Workers in Korea

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit (2023guhap63116 ) filed by Mr. A against the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service in September of last year to cancel the decision to collect unjust profits. Deceased died when a rope broke while he was cleaning windows. At the time, the Deceased worked as a daily worker for a maintenance company that was contracted to perform the cleaning work for the building. The Father of the Deceased filed a claim for survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses to the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service, which approved the claim and paid the survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses to the Father.

However, in March 2023, based on the results of a reinvestigation by the Ministry of Employment and Labor of Korea, the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service held that the Deceased was not a worker under the Labor Standards Act of Korea, and that it would cancel the previous decision to pay wages and collect the approximately 160 million won already paid to the Father as unjust profits. The Father filed a lawsuit claiming that his son was an “employee” under the Labor Standards Act of Korea.

The Administrative Court ruled in favor of the Father nothing: “Whether or not someone is considered a worker under the Labor Standards Act depends more on the actual relationship of providing labor than on the form of the contract . . . The standard for judgment is whether or not the worker provided labor subordinately to the employer for the purpose of receiving wages. While Mr. B was in charge of window cleaning work, he received instructions from the company regarding the daily work schedule, methods, and safety training . . . Considering that a safety manager is present to check on the work status and give instructions, [the Deceased] can be considered a worker covered by industrial accident insurance.” The Court opined that: “Industrial accident insurance benefits go beyond the simple meaning of guaranteeing a living and have the nature of liability insurance for compensation for accidents . . . Recovering the survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses that have already been paid as unjust profits is an unfair measure that causes excessive disadvantage to the survivors.”

Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty. Sean is ranked, for Korea, as one of only two non-Korean lawyers as a Top Attorney by AsiaLaw, and IPG Legal is consistently ranked Top Dispute Resolution Law Firm for our litigation services.

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