By Kim Rahn
All firms hiring foreign workers will have to set aside money on a monthly basis to provide severance pay to the employee when they complete the contract and leave the country.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor Tuesday said that the system will be applicable to all workplaces starting in August. The Cabinet approved an enforcement decree of the law governing the employment of foreign workers earlier in the day.
The policy, called departure guarantee insurance, is designed to prevent employers from withholding severance pay when migrant workers must leave the country as their visas expire. So far, the rule has been applied to workplaces with at least five employees.
“Foreign workers must leave Korea when their permitted working period ends, so their severance pay should be paid before departure. But it happens sometimes that employers have difficulty preparing the money and workers leave the country without receiving it,” a ministry official said.
“It is difficult for such workers to get the money through lawsuits. So we decided to expand the guarantee system to all workplaces,” the official said.
For employees working for at least a year, employers are obliged to pay severance equivalent to a month’s wages. So, according to the system, employers should deposit money equivalent to one-12th or 8.3 percent of a worker’s monthly salary to the agency in charge of the guarantee insurance, every month. After working one year the worker then can receive the accumulated money as severance pay.
Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance is currently the insurance managing agency.
For foreign workers hired before Aug. 1, employers aren’t required to deposit the amounts monthly but should follow the governing rule.