When an E-9 Worker Leaves: Desertion Reports and Workplace Changes

When a non-professional worker (E-9) hired under the Employment Permit System suddenly stops coming to work or cannot be reached, the employer wonders when and where to report, and the worker worries about what a desertion report will mean. As a rule, an E-9 worker keeps working at the workplace named in the original employment permit, so the moment the worker leaves, both the employer's reporting deadline and the worker's workplace change deadline start running. Here are the deadlines and steps each side needs to know.

Key points

• If a worker is absent for five days or more without proper procedure or their whereabouts are unknown, the employer must file an employment change report with the job center within 15 days of learning of it.
• A report to the job center counts as the immigration report, and a report to immigration counts as the job center report.
• The worker must apply for a workplace change within one month of the contract ending and obtain a workplace change permit within three months of applying, or must leave Korea.
• Workplace changes are limited to three in principle during the first three years and two during an extended period after re-employment. Changes for reasons not attributable to the worker are not counted.

1. The employer's desertion report: grounds and deadline

Article 17 of the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers requires the employer to report to the job center (the public employment security office) when events set by Presidential Decree occur, such as the termination of the employment contract. The Decree lists these events:

1. The foreign worker has died
2. Injury or similar makes continued work at the business unsuitable
3. The worker is absent for five days or more without proper procedure, such as the employer's approval, or the worker's whereabouts are unknown
4. The employment contract is terminated
5. The name of the employer or workplace has changed, or the work location changed without a change of employer

The report is filed on the foreign worker employment change report form with the job center for the business location within 15 days from the date the event occurred or the employer learned of it. What people call a "desertion report" is the employment change report for event 3. As of October 2026, an employer who fails to report or files a false report faces an administrative fine of up to 5 million won under Article 32 of the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers.

2. How it relates to the 15-day employer report under the Immigration Act

Article 19 of the Immigration Act also requires anyone employing a foreigner with a work-eligible status to report to the immigration office within 15 days when the foreigner is dismissed, resigns or dies, when the foreigner's whereabouts become unknown, or when important terms of the employment contract change. For unknown whereabouts, the 15 days run from the date the employer learned of it.

The two reports are linked into one. A job center report that also falls under the immigration reporting events counts as the immigration report, and vice versa, and the receiving agency notifies the other without delay. According to the stay manual, the HiKorea online service is integrated with the Ministry of Employment and Labor's employment change report and only processes reports filed within the deadline. A report of unknown whereabouts must include the worker's mobile number and expected location, and a resignation due to the contract period ending does not need an immigration report.

3. What happens on the worker's side: workplace change deadlines

Once a desertion report is filed, it is on record at both the job center and immigration. To keep working in Korea, the worker must complete the workplace change procedure within the set deadlines.

• Application deadline: apply to the job center for a workplace change within one month from the date the employment contract ended.
• Permit deadline: obtain a workplace change permit from immigration within three months from the application date.
• If a deadline is missed: under Article 25 of the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, the worker must leave Korea, and the job center notifies immigration of the list of people required to leave.
• Exception: if an occupational injury, illness, pregnancy or childbirth made it impossible to apply or obtain the permit, the period is counted from the date that reason ended. In that case, apply for an extension of the workplace change application period with supporting documents, and apply to immigration for a stay extension before your stay expires (the fee for this extension is waived).

The job center processes a workplace change application within 15 days and, if unavoidable, may extend that once by up to 15 days. If your stay expires before your job-seeker registration does (three months from the job-seeking application) and you still have workplace changes left, you can get a stay extension of up to 90 days from the date the job-seeker registration certificate was issued. At the new workplace, start work only after the workplace change permit is granted. Working elsewhere without it is a violation of the workplace change permit rule, and the employer who hires such a worker is also subject to penalties for illegal employment.

4. Grounds for a workplace change and the limit

A workplace change can be requested only on these grounds:

1. The employer intends, for a legitimate reason, to terminate the contract or refuse renewal after it expires
2. The Minister of Employment and Labor has recognized by public notice that continued work has become impossible for reasons not attributable to the worker, such as suspension or closure of the business, cancellation of the employment permit or employment restrictions, dormitory standard violations, or violations of working conditions or unfair treatment
3. Due to injury or similar, the worker is unsuitable for the current workplace but is recognized as able to work at another

During the three-year employment period after entry, changes may not exceed three in principle, and two during a period extended by re-employment. Changes on ground 2 are not counted. The stay manual allows one additional change if the three include one change made before the first placement after entry because of the employer's fault.

5. If you received a desertion report that does not match the facts

• Tell the job center right away. The report is filed there, so explain the facts to the job center in charge and submit attendance logs, pay slips, texts or messenger records. The job center can require documents to confirm the grounds for a change.
• State the grounds for the change precisely. If you left because of unpaid wages, violations of working conditions or unfair treatment, whether this counts as a reason not attributable to you matters. If it is accepted, the change does not count toward the limit.
• The deadlines keep running. Regardless of any dispute, once the one-month or three-month deadline passes you will be required to leave, so file the workplace change application first.
• A false report is the employer's responsibility. An employer who files a false report is subject to an administrative fine.

If you have already worked elsewhere or overstayed, also check the review procedure for illegal employment.

6. How an administrative agent can help

We can help employers prepare employment change and unknown-whereabouts reports and check deadlines, help workers prepare documents for a workplace change permit or stay extension, write statements explaining how the departure happened or why it was not the worker's fault, and translate foreign-language documents. Lawsuits over unpaid wages and representation in criminal cases or lawsuits are outside the scope of an administrative agent's work, so we do not take them on.

Whether you are the employer or the worker, the first step is to write down the last day of work and the date contact was lost.

You can find guidance on employment change reports, workplace changes and other residence services on HiKorea.