Labor Ministry Opens Employment Insurance Fraud Reporting Period Nov. 9 to Dec. 31
Seoul
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said on Nov. 8 that it will run a "second-half 2026 intensive reporting period for employment insurance fraud" from Nov. 9 to Dec. 31. The ministry will also conduct a special inspection of unemployment benefit fraud during the same period. People who voluntarily report fraudulent receipt of benefits can be exempted from additional recovery, and informants are paid a reporting reward of 20-30% of the fraudulent amount. The ministry's press release did not include the number or value of fraud cases uncovered this year. The ministry also ran reporting periods of the same name last November and this June.
Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor press release (Nov. 8, 2026)
Reporting period and eligibility
The intensive reporting period runs from Nov. 9 to Dec. 31. The ministry said it is holding the period to encourage voluntary reports and public tips on fraud across employment insurance programs, including unemployment benefits, maternity protection benefits such as parental leave benefits, employment subsidies and vocational competency development programs. Reports can be filed online through Work24 (work24.go.kr), the ministry's website and the e-People portal, or by visit, mail, fax or phone at regional employment and labor offices.
The ministry also noted that tips on fraud can be submitted anonymously, but because the informant cannot be identified, no notice of the outcome is sent and no reporting reward can be paid.
Self-reporting benefits and exclusions
Self-reporting is recognized when a person reports before an investigation into the wrongdoing begins and honestly discloses the facts during the investigation. For unemployment benefits and maternity protection benefits, additional recovery is waived. For employment stability and vocational competency development programs, additional recovery is waived and the benefit suspension period can be cut by up to one-third, taking into account the extent, motive and consequences of the wrongdoing.
In the FAQ section of the press release, the ministry said that people who self-report fraud must still repay the full amount but are exempted from additional recovery of up to five times that amount, and that criminal penalties can also be adjusted if there is no history of collusion and the offense is minor in light of factors such as the amount and the number of dispositions. Those caught in fraud face a suspension of benefits, must repay the full amount received, can be charged additional recovery of up to five times the fraudulent amount, and can be punished with up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won.
Some cases are excluded from the benefits. Collusive fraud is excluded from the self-reporting benefits, and the benefits are also restricted for people with a record of a fraud disposition in the past three years, among other cases.
Reward tiers
Informants are paid a reporting reward of 20-30% of the fraudulent amount, based on results such as detections and repayment orders. Payment caps are set by benefit category.
| Benefit category | Reward cap |
|---|---|
| Unemployment benefits | Up to 5 million won (50 million won if the employer colluded) |
| Maternity protection benefits | Up to 5 million won |
| Employment stability and vocational competency development programs | Up to 30 million won |
In a press release issued Nov. 2 last year, the ministry gave the standard as 20% of the fraudulent amount with an annual cap of 5 million won for unemployment and maternity protection benefits, and 30% with an annual cap of 30 million won for employment stability and vocational competency development programs. It made no mention of a separate cap for employer collusion. The standard in the June 1 press release this year was the same. This time, the ministry newly specified a 50 million won cap on unemployment benefit rewards in cases of employer collusion.
Types of fraud
Most of the main types of fraud the ministry cited in its press release for last November's reporting period were repeated in its June press release this year. For unemployment benefits, they include people who quit voluntarily and then, in collusion with a former business partner, falsely report a short-term employment contract (two months or less) without actually working and receive benefits on the basis of contract expiry; people who leave for personal reasons but, in collusion with the employer, have it reported as a recommended resignation for management reasons; and people who take a job while receiving benefits and are paid their wages in cash.
For parental leave benefits, the cited cases include filing a false employment insurance enrollment report for a workplace run by relatives where the person never worked and then applying for leave benefits, and, in collusion with the employer during leave, continuing to come to work while submitting a false application. In employment stability, cases include pretending to have newly hired an unemployed person who meets the support requirements, collecting the subsidy and then having the employer take back the wages paid, and workers on suspended operations who show up and work while receiving employment retention subsidies. In vocational competency development, the ministry pointed to proxy attendance by training institution staff or trainees, and administrative staff or instructors at training institutions enrolling as trainees to receive subsidies.
Special inspection of unemployment benefits
The ministry will carry out a "second-half 2026 special inspection of unemployment benefit fraud" during the same period as the reporting period. There are two main inspection targets. One is people who have repeatedly received unemployment benefits three or more times at the same workplace, where a false separation report or similar is suspected. The other is people who left the country on an unemployment recognition day while receiving benefits, where proxy recognition or similar is suspected.
The ministry said the inspection is meant to check for fraud "focusing on major cases pointed out in the National Assembly audit and elsewhere." It added, however, that "repeated claims or time spent abroad alone do not make something fraud," and said it would judge each case individually by checking the facts, such as the actual circumstances of separation, who applied for the unemployment recognition and whether the person engaged in job-seeking activity.
The third reporting period
The ministry has run intensive reporting periods three times recently.
| Period | Dates | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Second half of 2025 | Nov. 3 to Dec. 2, 2025 | One month |
| First half of 2026 | June 1 to June 30, 2026 | One month |
| Second half of 2026 | Nov. 9 to Dec. 31, 2026 | About seven and a half weeks |
For the November 2025 reporting period as well, the ministry led with "Additional recovery of up to five times is waived," and said criminal penalties (up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won) could also be waived. It used the same wording for this June's reporting period. In the body of this November press release, the ministry leads with the waiver of additional recovery and the reduction of the benefit suspension period, and addresses the adjustment of criminal penalties in the FAQ.
No figures on scale announced
In this press release, the ministry did not disclose the number of reports received during the first-half reporting period this year, the number of cases detected in the special inspection, or the amount of repayment orders. It also did not disclose the number of self-reports or the amount of additional recovery waived in last November's reporting period.
The most recent annual fraud detection figure confirmed in the ministry's website press releases is for 2023, announced on Feb. 21, 2024. At the time, the ministry said that "the scale of employment insurance fraud detected in 2023 was 52.6 billion won, up 5.9 billion won from the previous year," with the prior year at 46.7 billion won. In the same announcement, the ministry said a planned investigation had uncovered 218 fraudulent recipients and 2.37 billion won in fraudulent payments. The breakdown was 132 people for unemployment benefits (1.21 billion won), 82 people for parental leave benefits (970 million won) and four workplaces for special employment promotion subsidies (190 million won). The cases presented at the time included people who, after wages went unpaid, colluded with the employer to falsely report that they had quit, collected unemployment benefits and used them as wages, and people who colluded with family to falsely enroll in employment insurance without actually working and then collected unemployment benefits once the eligibility requirement was met. In the same announcement, the ministry also said it would conduct special inspections twice a year, in the first and second halves, of fraud cases in which the unemployment benefit period overlaps with time spent abroad. It ordered repayment of a total of 4.41 billion won including additional recovery, and referred 203 people to prosecutors with a recommendation for indictment.
| Item | Ministry announcement |
|---|---|
| Annual detected fraud, 2023 | 52.6 billion won (announced February 2024) |
| Annual detected fraud, 2024 and 2025 | Not announced in this release |
| Annual detected fraud, 2026 | Not announced |
| Reports received in June 2026 reporting period | Not announced |
| Self-reports in November 2025 reporting period | Not announced |
| Number of people targeted in second-half special inspection | Not announced |
| Staff deployed for special inspection | Not announced |
The minister's two remarks
Minister Kim Young-hoon said, "There are aspects in which repeated claims inevitably arise from structural factors in our labor market, which has a high share of temporary work." He went on to say, "Taking these characteristics into account, we will provide thicker protection for vulnerable workers in employment insecurity, while responding more sternly to acts of abusing the system and fraudulently receiving subsidies."
Citing people who repeatedly received benefits three or more times at the same workplace as one of the inspection targets, the ministry drew a line that repeated claims are not in themselves fraud. It did not specify the number of targets, the criteria for suspecting a false separation report, or how time spent abroad will be checked.
On the policy for this reporting period and special inspection, the ministry's position is that it will raise vigilance against fraud through the intensive reporting period and special inspection, encourage voluntary reports and public tips, and step up the prevention and detection of employment insurance fraud. The ministry also said last November that it would take active preventive steps so that premiums paid by employers and workers are spent where they are truly needed. The ministry pointed to Work24 and e-People as channels for tips and self-reports, and said it will also accept reports by visit, mail, fax and phone at the fraud investigation units of regional employment and labor offices. The ministry included repeated claims and time spent abroad, which were pointed out in the National Assembly audit, among the inspection targets, but did not disclose how many people will be inspected for either type. Unlike the November 2025 reporting period, which lasted one month, this period runs longer, until Dec. 31.
Sources (KST)
- Ministry of Employment and Labor · 2026-11-08 12:00 KST (for Nov. 9 morning editions) · Report employment insurance fraud now! Self-reporting waives additional recovery (press release) · https://www.moel.go.kr/news/enews/report/enewsView.do?news_seq=20213
- Ministry of Employment and Labor · 2026-05-31 12:00 KST (for June 1 morning editions) · Fraud will certainly be caught! Self-report unemployment benefit fraud right now (press release) · https://www.moel.go.kr/news/enews/report/enewsView.do?news_seq=19464
- Ministry of Employment and Labor · 2025-11-02 12:00 KST (for Nov. 3 morning editions) · Self-report unemployment benefit fraud! Additional recovery of up to five times is waived (press release) · https://www.moel.go.kr/news/enews/report/enewsView.do?news_seq=18526
- Ministry of Employment and Labor · 2024-02-21 12:00 KST · 218 fraudulent recipients (2.37 billion won) caught in employment insurance planned investigation (press release) · https://www.moel.go.kr/news/enews/report/enewsView.do?news_seq=16222