Exemption from additional collection if you voluntarily report illegal receipt of employment insurance… Reward for reporting

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 8th that it will operate a '2026 intensive reporting period for employment insurance fraud in the second half of 2026' until the end of this year.

From the 9th to the 31st of next month, the Ministry of Labor will receive voluntary reports and tips on illegal receipt of employment insurance benefits and subsidies, including unemployment benefits, parental leave benefits, employment incentives, and vocational skills development training expenses.

If you voluntarily report fraudulent receipts, you will be exempted from additional collection of up to 5 times. If the severity of the crime is minor, the level of criminal punishment may also be adjusted.

If you report illegal benefits, you will be paid a reward of 20% of the illegal benefits, up to 5 million won per year (50 million won in the case of employer public offering) in the case of unemployment benefits, etc. For employment security and vocational skills development projects, 30% of the illegal benefits can be received as a reward, up to 30 million won per year.

Voluntary reports and reports can be made on the Employment 24 website (work24.go.kr), the Ministry of Labor website, or the National Newspaper. You can also visit the local employment and labor office nearby and report it.

Anonymous reporting is also possible, but in this case, the reporter cannot be identified and the reporting reward may not be paid.

The Ministry of Labor conducts special inspections of illegal supply and demand during the intensive reporting period.

The main targets of inspection include cases where false job change reports are suspected among those who have repeatedly received unemployment benefits at the same workplace three or more times, and cases where proxy unemployment recognition is suspected among those who left the country on the unemployment recognition date while receiving unemployment benefits.

The fact that a person has repeatedly received benefits or stayed abroad alone does not constitute illegal benefits, and individual facts such as actual job change, subject of application for unemployment recognition, and re-employment activities are checked to determine whether illegal benefits have been received.

According to data received from the Ministry of Labor by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim So-hee, a member of the National Assembly Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, the number of repeat beneficiaries who received unemployment benefits three or more times within five years was counted at 113,000 last year.

The amount of unemployment benefits paid to them reached 599.754 billion won as of last year. The average amount received per person is approximately 5.3 million won.

Minister of Labor Kim Young-hoon emphasized, "Repeated receipt is inevitable due to structural factors in our labor market, which has a high proportion of temporary workers," but added, "We will respond more strictly to those who abuse the system and illegally receive subsidies."