Workers' comp claims stretched to 40 extension requests, KEF report warns

A worker who received workers' compensation approval for a shoulder condition went on to file additional claims for ailments in the neck, elbow and ankle, ultimately spending three and a half years in treatment. During that period, the worker switched medical facilities more than 10 times and submitted treatment plans to extend the recovery period on more than 40 occasions.

In another case, a worker approved for a knee injury traveled more than 200 kilometers from home to receive treatment at a distant hospital, continuing for five years and two months. The worker received approval for three additional conditions, and the treatment period was extended even after a consulting physician at the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service recommended ending it.

The Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) released a report Thursday titled "Current State of Long-Term Treatment Among Injured Workers and Directions for Improvement," calling for stronger management of the workers' compensation treatment system.

The report also documented a case in which a worker approved for an elbow condition repeatedly changed medical facilities and filed treatment extension requests — six to eight times each — over a recovery period of one and a half years. Some workers were found to have played golf and gone fishing on multiple occasions while receiving outpatient treatment.

The federation said the current system, which places no limit on the number of times a worker can file additional condition claims, change medical facilities or request treatment extensions, can be exploited to prolong recovery periods excessively.

Long-term treatment cases made up a significant share of the workers surveyed. A federation investigation of 2,466 workers approved for musculoskeletal workers' compensation claims at 13 workplaces in the shipbuilding, automotive and tire manufacturing sectors found that, as of June this year, 29.7 percent of tire manufacturing workers, 27.7 percent of shipbuilding workers and 14.9 percent of automotive manufacturing workers had been in treatment for more than a year.

Compared with 2024, the share of long-term treatment cases fell in the tire manufacturing sector, from 47.1 percent to 29.7 percent, and in shipbuilding, from 31.6 percent to 27.7 percent. The automotive manufacturing sector, however, saw an increase, rising from 12.7 percent to 14.9 percent.

Average treatment durations also shortened compared with 2024 — from 370.5 days to 297.5 days in shipbuilding, from 225.1 days to 200.3 days in automotive manufacturing, and from 381.1 days to 350.1 days in tire manufacturing. Compared with last year, however, treatment periods in shipbuilding and automotive manufacturing actually grew longer.

To address the long-term treatment problem, the federation proposed establishing standard treatment durations by condition type and requiring strict verification of the link between any newly claimed condition and the original approved injury. It also called for caps on the number of times workers can change facilities or request extensions, with cases exceeding a set threshold subject to review by multiple specialists.

Im Woo-taek, head of the KEF's safety and health division, said there have been signs of improvement in how the workers' compensation treatment system is managed recently, but added that excessive long-term treatment cases continue to recur, negatively affecting fellow workers and companies. He said the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service needs to make more active efforts to address the problem.