The headquarters of the Korea Legal Aid Corp. in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of the Korea Legal Aid Corp.

A district court has ordered a manufacturing firm to pay some 10.5 million won ($7,746) in severance pay to an illegal migrant worker, citing photos and other evidence showing the employment.

The company had the worker from Indonesia work without a formal contract between November 2019 and April 2023 and paid wages in cash in an apparent attempt to leave no evidence of employment so as to refuse severance payment.

When the worker filed a complaint with a regional labor office to seek severance pay, the company actually denied knowing the worker, and the labor office accepted the argument and closed the case, citing insufficient evidence.

The worker then sought help from the Korea Legal Aid Corp., and the agency filed a formal lawsuit on behalf of the worker and submitted evidence to the court, such as photos of the worker taking part in company parties and posing with the head of the company.

The Daegu District Court's Yeongcheon city branch has recently ruled in favor of the worker.

"We need to sound the alarm against the practice of leaving no evidence of the employment of illegally residing foreign workers and negating such workers," a lawyer of the legal aid corporation said. "Workers should actively seek their rights." (Yonhap)