The System for Employing Foreign Workers
I. Introduction
Foreign workers are classified according to visa status: (i) non-professional foreign workers, (ii) overseas Korean workers (working-visit workers and overseas Koreans), and (iii) professional foreign workers. Only foreign workers with non-professional and working-visit status are subject to the Act on Employment Etc. of Foreign Workers (hereinafter “Foreign Employment Act”), while overseas Koreans and professional foreign workers are subject to the Immigration Control Act and general labor laws.
Non-professional foreign workers are employed as short-term circulating workers that stay for a certain period based on the Foreign Employment Act to supplement the workforce in Korea. However, overseas Korean workers voluntarily enter the country for economic reasons and are able to stay for a longer time. Companies invite professional foreign workers to work here to harness their professional knowledge, and so employment procedures are complicated but staying long-term is possible. Since foreign workers are introduced to address Korea’s needs, it is desirable that they be introduced in a way that maximizes Korea’s own interests. Recently, the proliferation of illegal immigrants has raised awareness of the need for more careful management of the foreign employment system. For this reason, I would like to examine specifically the system for employing foreign workers in Korea.
Status of Foreign Employment in Korea
Total Persons/Percent (i) Non-professional Workers (ii) Overseas Koreans (iii) Professional (iv)
Illegal Workers
Visa Type E-9 Non-professional E-10
(Ship crewmen) H-2 (Working visit) F-4 (Overseas Korean F-5 (Permanent resident) (Visit/ residence (F-1, etc.) Professor etc.
(E-1/ E-7) -
Persons 276,811 16,010 243,339 432,485 90,214 93,571
Total Persons 1,523,153 292,821 859,609 47,156 323,267
% of all Foreign Workers 100 19.2 56.4 3.1 21.2
Source: Ministry of Justice, “Monthly Immigration Statistics”, June 2018.
II. Non-professional Workers
1. Eligible Workers & Jobs
Non-professional foreign workers (E-9) are invited from 16 countries such as China, countries from the former Soviet Union, and Southeast Asian countries to supplement SME workforces in Korea’s “3D” jobs (dirty, dangerous, difficult). To be eligible for employment, such workers must pass strict selection procedures such as a Korean Proficiency Test, a technical test, and a physical examination to facilitate their adaptation to a Korean workplace.
Non-professional foreign workers were introduced through the General Employment Permit System in 2004, starting in manufacturing, construction and agriculture and expanding to fisheries in 2016.
Manufacturing companies must have fewer than 300 regular workers or less than KRW 8 billion in capital as a prerequisite to employing foreign workers. The allowable number of foreign employees varies by the size of the company, but is usually about 10-20% of the total workforce. The allowable number of employees in a construction company is 5 persons if the average annual construction revenue is less than KRW 1.5 billion, and 0.4 per KRW 100 million over 1.5 KRW billion. An agricultural company with 10 or fewer employees can employ up to 5 people regardless of no Korean worker employed, up to 20% of the total workforce. In the fishery industry, foreign employees can be used only on fishing vessels of less than 20 tons, which are not subject to the Seamen’ Act, and can make up to 40% of the total fishing workers per ship.
2. Employment Procedures
The detailed procedures for employment within the Employment Permit System is as follows.
(1) Efforts to hire Korean workers: Employers seeking to hire foreign workers first apply at the local employment center. In an effort to ensure Korean workers have enough jobs, employers seeking to hire foreign workers are obliged to seek Korean workers first: 14 days through the employment center, and 7 days through newspapers, broadcasts, daily information magazines, and other media.
(2) Application of employment permit for foreigners: If an employer is unable to hire suitable Korean workers despite his efforts to do so, the employer may apply for a foreign employment permit at the employment center, within 3 months after completion of the local employment effort.
(3) Issuance of employment permits: When an employer asks the employment center to issue a work permit, the center will introduce some foreign workers (three times the number requested), from whom the employer will select those most eligible for the employment. Employment permits are then issued.
(4) Making an employment contract: Upon issuance of an employment permit, the employer shall send a standard employment contract to the KHR(Korea Human Resources) Corporation, who shall then send it to the dispatching agency of the sending country. When the sending agency of the sending country contacts the foreign workers selected by the employer and confirms their intention to enter into an employment contract, the standard employment contract sent by the employer is finalized and sent back to KHR, after which the employment contract is concluded.
(5) Application and issuance of visa issuance certificate: When an employment contract is concluded, the employer can obtain a certificate of visa issuance from the immigration office. Once a certificate of visa issuance is issued, the employer sends its certificate of a temporary visa to the relevant workers by means of the sending agency of the sending country.
(6) Orientation training for foreign workers: When foreign workers enter Korea with a non-professional employment visa (E-9), escorted by the sending agency, they are taken to the KHR Corporation representative at Incheon International Airport. They are then taken to the employment institutions allocated for training of persons from each country and industry, and will receive job orientation for 2-3 days (16 hours). If health checkups reveal no interfering health concerns and the foreign workers are able to complete their orientation, the corresponding employers will pick up the ones assigned to them in their notification from the employment training institution.
(7) Reporting any changes to employment of foreign workers: If a foreign worker is no longer employed, has been injured, has died, or has had the employment contract renewed, the employer should report such changes to the employment center.
(8) Change of workplace for a foreign worker: In principle, foreign workers should continue to work for three years at the workplace through which they first gained their employment visa. However, where it is recognized normal working relations are unreasonably difficult to maintain due to a temporary suspension or shutdown of the workplace, unlawful delay in payment of wages etc., foreign workers are allowed to change jobs a maximum of 3 times in such cases as a way to better protect their basic human rights. Employment contracts are allowed to be extended twice, for a total of two years with each extension.
(9) Cancellation of the employment permit and suspension of access: The employment permit will be canceled if the employer breaches the wage obligations or other employment conditions contracted with the employee before the employee entered the country. In addition, any company that employs foreign workers without obtaining an employment permit shall have their access to foreign workers suspended for three years.
(10) Korea’s four social insurances and specific insurances for foreign workers:
① Four social insurances: Of the four major insurances for non-professional foreign workers, registration for the national pension, national health insurance, and industrial accident insurance are mandatory. Unemployment insurance is optional, and only those who su
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