Migrant worker rights activists prostrate themselves during a rally calling for the rights of undocumented migrant workers in central Seoul on June 14. (Lim Jae-seong/The Korea Herald) When a foreign worker loses legal status because an employer fails to complete required procedures, the Ministry of Employment and Labor should give the worker another opportunity to obtain work authorization, South Korea’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said Thursday.The opinion came in a case involving a foreign worker whose application to extend his E-9 nonprofessional work visa was denied after his employer failed to obtain the required approval for continued employment.The worker, who had been employed in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, since March 2024, agreed with his employer to extend his employment. However, the employer failed to apply to the Labor Ministry for approval of his reemployment despite receiving five reminders from the authorities.Instead, the employer applied only for an extension of the worker’s visa, three days before it was due to expire.Because E-9 workers must receive approval for continued employment before extending their visa, the application was denied. A belated application for reemployment, submitted 10 days after his employment authorization expired, was also rejected.The commission said an employer’s failure to fulfill administrative requirements should not result in a worker losing legal status or employment opportunities, and urged the Labor Ministry to establish a remedy for foreign workers who lose opportunities for reemployment through no fault of their own.Although the commission’s recommendations and opinions are not legally binding, their acceptance rate has remained at around 90 percent over the past decade.The commission also cited Korea’s need to retain experienced foreign workers as the country faces a rapidly shrinking youth population and a declining labor force.“A foreign worker losing an opportunity to work and facing deportation through no fault of their own hurts not only the worker but also companies struggling with labor shortages,” a commission official said.“We expect this decision to help expand employment opportunities for experienced foreign workers while also easing labor shortages at Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises.”