Today's Hankyoreh published following article:
Migrant workers missing out on unemployment benefits
Many migrant workers either don’t know about the program or are unaware they are eligible to collect the benefits
Lamoon, a 35-year-old Thai woman, lost her job on Oct. 19 of last year. She had been working at a small company in the South Korean city of Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, since March 2006. But as the economic downturn shrank the number of orders the company was receiving, she and other migrant workers were the first to be fired. Lamoon began her search for a new job at a center for migrant workers in the province. After months of searching, she learned that she was eligible for unemployment benefits. Center personnel helped her identify the 7,000 won (US$5.07) she had paid per month for unemployment insurance and helped her file her benefits application.
Le Van Be, a 29-year-old Vietnamese migrant worker who was fired on Dec. 26 of last year, also only found out about unemployment benefits when he visited a center for migrant workers. Le Van Be, who got married in November last year, said that when he lost his job, “My wife told me to just return to Vietnam.” But after he found out he could get unemployment benefits, he felt he could hold on until finding a new job, so he filed an application to claim his benefits at a local labor center affiliated with the Labor Ministry.
Anyone paying unemployment insurance for more than six months can receive unemployment insurance benefits. But most migrant workers have not received these benefits because they are not aware of the existence of such a system, nor do they know that they are eligible to claim the benefits.
According to data released Wednesday by the Korea Employment Information Service, the number of migrant workers enrolled in the employment insurance program is 20,398 people. In 2006, the figure rose to above 50,000 people, but fell sharply thereafter because employers became reluctant to enroll their workers in the program after the government made their participation in it voluntary. Since Aug. 17, 2004, when the employment permission system came into force, only 20 migrant workers have received unemployment benefits.
An official at the KEIS said, “When a person loses a job, regardless of whether they are a Korean or a foreigner, we send a notice showing the subscription period for unemployment insurance and the reason the job was lost.” He continued, “For most migrant workers, we sent the notice to their former employers because their addresses are unclear. We don’t check whether the employers deliver the notices to their former employees.”
The Office of the Gyeongnam Migrant Workers’ Council is working with 44 aid centers for foreign laborers nationwide to find migrant workers who are eligible for unemployment benefits to help them collect their benefits. The center also plans to launch a campaign to improve the unemployment insurance system.
“Foreign laborers are on the top of the workforce reduction list amid the economic crisis these days, but they haven’t received unemployment benefits because of a lack of advertisements,” Lee Cheol-seung, the head of the council, said. “The government must improve its administrative services for migrant workers so they don’t lose the chance to receive unemployment benefits.”
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/337024.html
Related article:
Many Foreign Workers Unaware of Jobless Claims (Korea Times, 2.04)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/113_38963.html
Migrant workers missing out on unemployment benefits
Many migrant workers either don’t know about the program or are unaware they are eligible to collect the benefits
Lamoon, a 35-year-old Thai woman, lost her job on Oct. 19 of last year. She had been working at a small company in the South Korean city of Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, since March 2006. But as the economic downturn shrank the number of orders the company was receiving, she and other migrant workers were the first to be fired. Lamoon began her search for a new job at a center for migrant workers in the province. After months of searching, she learned that she was eligible for unemployment benefits. Center personnel helped her identify the 7,000 won (US$5.07) she had paid per month for unemployment insurance and helped her file her benefits application.
Le Van Be, a 29-year-old Vietnamese migrant worker who was fired on Dec. 26 of last year, also only found out about unemployment benefits when he visited a center for migrant workers. Le Van Be, who got married in November last year, said that when he lost his job, “My wife told me to just return to Vietnam.” But after he found out he could get unemployment benefits, he felt he could hold on until finding a new job, so he filed an application to claim his benefits at a local labor center affiliated with the Labor Ministry.
Anyone paying unemployment insurance for more than six months can receive unemployment insurance benefits. But most migrant workers have not received these benefits because they are not aware of the existence of such a system, nor do they know that they are eligible to claim the benefits.
According to data released Wednesday by the Korea Employment Information Service, the number of migrant workers enrolled in the employment insurance program is 20,398 people. In 2006, the figure rose to above 50,000 people, but fell sharply thereafter because employers became reluctant to enroll their workers in the program after the government made their participation in it voluntary. Since Aug. 17, 2004, when the employment permission system came into force, only 20 migrant workers have received unemployment benefits.
An official at the KEIS said, “When a person loses a job, regardless of whether they are a Korean or a foreigner, we send a notice showing the subscription period for unemployment insurance and the reason the job was lost.” He continued, “For most migrant workers, we sent the notice to their former employers because their addresses are unclear. We don’t check whether the employers deliver the notices to their former employees.”
The Office of the Gyeongnam Migrant Workers’ Council is working with 44 aid centers for foreign laborers nationwide to find migrant workers who are eligible for unemployment benefits to help them collect their benefits. The center also plans to launch a campaign to improve the unemployment insurance system.
“Foreign laborers are on the top of the workforce reduction list amid the economic crisis these days, but they haven’t received unemployment benefits because of a lack of advertisements,” Lee Cheol-seung, the head of the council, said. “The government must improve its administrative services for migrant workers so they don’t lose the chance to receive unemployment benefits.”
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/337024.html
Related article:
Many Foreign Workers Unaware of Jobless Claims (Korea Times, 2.04)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/113_38963.html
