Foreign workers died in Hwaseong lithium battery plant fire to receive less compensation than Korean colleagues

The bereaved families of the victims speak to reporters in front of a memorial altar in Hwaseong City Hall on June 27, the fourth day after a fire broke out at Aricell, a lithium battery producer in Hwaseong. Reporter Han Soo-bin

Of the 23 workers who died in a lithium battery plant fire in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, 18 were migrant workers from China and Laos. Companies compensate workers who die in industrial accidents based on their "expected future earnings.” For foreigners, it also reflects the wage level in their home country, and both China and Laos have lower wages than Korea. This is why the migrant workers who died in the tragedy are likely to be discriminated against in the “price of their lives” as well.

According to the report on June 27, there are two types of compensation that the bereaved families of victims receive in the event of an industrial accident: “Industrial accident insurance benefits” and “Civil and criminal compensation paid by the company.” Industrial accident insurance benefits paid by the Labor Welfare Organization are paid equally to domestic and foreign workers.

Even if the company does not buy insurance, it is considered as a matter of course, so workers who are recognized as a “wage worker” can receive benefits. Meicell, which is suspected of illegally dispatching workers to Aricell, also did not take out occupational health and safety insurance, but the victims can receive the benefits.

The controversial part is the “company's civil and criminal compensation” that is expected to be paid by Aricell. In this case, the workers had a formal employment relationship with Meicell, but in reality, they reportedly received work orders from Aricell. As a result, it is likely that Aricell will pay compensation based on negligence.

The problem is that there may be differences between domestic and foreign workers in the case of "company-paid compensation." It is paid according to the "future income" that is expected to receive by working from the time of death until the age of 65.

Several criteria are used to calculate the “future income.” For foreigners, it will be determined how long they can stay in Korea based on their visa.

Therefore, migrant workers' “future income” is determined based on their income in Korea for the period of time they are expected to live in the country, and their income in their home country for the period of time they are expected to live there. As a result, the amount of compensation paid to migrant workers varies depending on their visa.

"In the case of a deceased migrant worker, he or she receives less compensation than other Korean workers who worked at the same workplace because the future income is calculated after considering the time they would work in Korea and their home country depending on their visa,” said Cho Young-kwan, a lawyer at the Friends of the Migrant Center Friend. "It is unfair to shorten the period of income recognition just because they are foreigners."

How aggressive Aricell will be in compensating the bereaved families of the victims will also be crucial. Aricell is a subsidiary of KOSDAQ-listed Esconec, with capital of 25 billion won and annual sales of 4.7 billion won as of last year. It has 24.1 billion won in debt and is facing capital erosion. Aricell has appointed lawyers from Kim & Chang, the largest law firm in Korea, to respond to the investigation.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.