Korea Labor Management QA
Email: sel4ww@evershinecpa.com
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LRC – South Korea Labor Regulations
LRC-CA-20.10
What must be included in the contents of a labor contract in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended). Arts. 15-18 (Korean).
Employers are required to enter into individual work contracts with each employee specifying:
• Wages
• Work hours and
• Working conditions
Contracts must provide at least the minimum conditions required by law and are otherwise considered null and void.
Labor law generally does not make a distinction between contracts for permanent, part-time and temporary workers.
LRC-CA-20.11
Do South Korea arrange labor contract in fixed term?
What should be the length of the labor contract in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Fixed-Term Employees Act.
Fixed term contract should not exceed 2 years unless exceptional cases.
LRC-CA-20.20
What is the minimum age for hiring new employee in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended). Arts. 64-69 (Korean).
Youths under the age of 15 may not be employed unless they get a permit from the labor minister.
Those under 18 may not work for more than 7 hours per day or 40 hours per week (although this may be extended by 1 hour per day or 6 hours per week with mutual consent).
LRC-CA-20.40
Is it a requirement for employer in South Korea to conduct a pre-employment background check?
Evershine RD:
According to Personal Information Protection Act, 2011, arts.3-4.
An employer should obtain an employee or applicant’s permission before conducting a background check.
LRC-CA-20.50
Is the Non-Competition indemnity clause in labor contract in South Korea has legal effect?
Evershine RD:
According to Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, No. 911 of 1961 (as amended), arts. 10-11.
Employment contracts may protect trade secrets and confidential information with fiscal value.
LRC-CA-40.05
What are the regulations on Gender Discrimination in employment specifically for female workers in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation, No. 9,975 of 2009 (as amended), art.12; Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, No. 13932, 2016, art. 12.
Korean law bars employers from discrimination based on sex in hiring, training, pay, promotion, dismissal or retirement.
Employers must compensate men and women equally for equivalent work.
Employers also may not discriminate against female employees based on marital status, pregnancy, or childbirth.
Employers violating gender discrimination laws may face substantial fines and imprisonment.
LRC-CA-50.10
Can the employer in South Korea collect, or process data transmitted by employees over the internet?
Evershine RD:
According to Act on Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection, 2009.
In all cases, employers must gain workers’ express consent and clearly inform them about the scope of the monitoring and how it will be carried out.
Monitoring email without employee consent is a probable violation of law.
LRC-CA-60.10
What are the regulations on working hours in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended), arts. 50-55 (Korean); Labor Standards Act Amendments, 2018 (Korean).
The standard workday is 8 hours and standard workweek is 40 hours, although the law allows for flexible work-hour arrangements.
Under a new law passed in 2018, the maximum number of weekly work hours were reduced to 52, consisting of 40 regular hours and 12 overtime hours.
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12, 325 of 1997 (as amended), arts. 53-56 (Korean); Labor Standards Act Amendments, 2018 (Korean).
Overtime is defined as any hours worked beyond eight in a day or 40 in a week. When hours are averaged over two or more weeks under a flexible work schedule, overtime is defined as hours worked that put employees over an average of 40 a week.
Workers get paid time and a half for overtime work of less than 8 hours, or 200 percent if 8 hours of work are exceeded.
LRC-CA-60.50
Is it common to pay 13th month’s salary in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
Bonuses are not addressed in South Korea’s labor laws.
LRC-CA-70.10
What are the regulations on general leave policy for employee in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended), art. 60 (Korean).
| Year of Service | Number of leave |
| 1st year of employment | 11 days |
| At least 1 year | 15 days |
| At least 3 years | Additional 1 day for every 2 years of service |
Total days off may not exceed 25 per year.
Paid leave is forfeited if not used within one year of being earned unless the failure to use the leave was caused by the employer, and employers are required to begin reminding employees to use their annual leave on July 1 of each year.
LRC-CA-70.20
What are the public holidays in South Korea?
What is the overtime premium rate during public holiday in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended), art. 56 (Korean).
The designated public holidays are as follows:
- Jan. 1: New Year’s Day
- Seollal, the new year according to the Korean Calendar, is observed for three days, including the days before and after the first day of the new year, and falls in January or February.
- March 1: Independence Movement Day
- The birthday of the Buddha is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month of the Korean Calendar and falls in April or May.
- May 1: Labor Day
- May 5: Children’s Day
- June 6: Memorial Day
- Aug. 15: Liberation Day
- Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, is observed on the 14th to 16th days of the eighth month of the Korean Calendar and falls in September or October.
- Oct. 3: Foundation Day
- Oct. 9: Hangul Day, also known as Korean Alphabet Day
- Dec. 25: Christmas Day
- The days of presidential, National Assembly, and local elections also are holidays.
Employees receive one day off per week with pay as well as a paid day off for Labor Day, which is a public holiday, on May 1 each year.
Employees who are required to work on public holidays must receive 150% of pay for the hours worked.
Employers with at least 5 but fewer than 30 employees will be required to provide additional public holidays for their workers by Jan. 1, 2022.
The government is planning to conduct a survey of public holidays and is to release additional guidance on which public holidays will be a part of this practice at a later date.
LRC-CA-70.30
What is the maternity leave policy for female employee in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended), arts. 74-75 (Korean).
Pregnant women are entitled to 90 days of maternity leave, at least half of which must be taken after giving birth.
The employer pays a worker on leave regular wages for the first 60 days, after which the Employment Insurance Fund covers the rest if the woman has participated in the fund for at least 180 days by the end of the leave.
Employers must grant female employees who are pregnant with two or more fetuses a total of 120 days of paid maternity leave, of which 60 days must be used after childbirth.
Of this leave, 75 days are paid maternity leave, with the final 45 days compensated by the Employment Insurance Fund.
LRC-CA-70.40
What is the paternity leave policy for male employee in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation, No. 3,989 of 1987 (as amended), arts. 18-19.
Fathers are entitled to 10 days of paid paternity leave within the first 90 days after childbirth.
The government provides a subsidy for 5 days of paternity leave.
The other 5 days’ salary are paid by the employer.
Paternity leave can be used separately, split into a maximum of 2 periods.
LRC-CA-70.50
What are the provisions on sick leave, bereavement leave and personal leave for employees in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
South Korea requires employers to provide paid leave, sick leave, parental leave, family care leave, and military leave.
Sick Leave
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,235 of 1997 (as amended), arts. 73, 79 (Korean).
Employers are required to pay employees for sick leave only in cases of occupational injury or illness, although many employers choose to offer paid sick leave for nonwork ailments upon receipt of proof of illness from a doctor.
Employers are required to grant a female worker one day of menstruation leave per month upon her request.
Bereavement Leave
There is no legally enforceable law for bereavement leave.
Employers may give up to 4 continuous weeks of paid time following the death of an immediate family member of employee.
Evershine RD:
The legal retirement age is 61, rising gradually to 65 by 2033.
The National Pension Scheme is a social insurance program financed by equal contributions from employers and employees.
Maximum contributions are 9%, split equally between the employer and the employee.
Health insurance is jointly financed with a 3.26% tax on both employers and employees.
LRC-CA-70.70
What are the regulations on Workers’ Compensation for employee in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, No. 13,323 of 2015 (as amended), art. 52.
Most employers are required to participate in the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance system, which provides benefits for workers who incur work-related injuries or diseases.
Premiums are determined by the Ministry of Employment and Labor based on employers’ accident records.
Workers’ compensation is provided to employees who need medical care and/or cannot work as a result of an occupational injury or disease for more than 3 days.
During the period of medical treatment, a worker is paid 70 percent of his or her average wage.
LRC-CA-80.05
Can the employee in South Korea join labor union?
Evershine RD:
According to Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, No. 5,310 of 1997 (as amended), art. 1.
The Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act of 1997 (TULRAA) provides workers with the right to organize and collectively bargain.
LRC-CA-80.06
How to handle labor dispute in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, No. 5,310 of 1997 (As amended), arts. 47-70.
Trade unions are entitled to represent employees for labor-related purposes.
Any group of 2 or more employees at a company may form a union to act within the scope of their industry.
Notice must be submitted to the Ministry of Employment and Labor or the local labor authority, and certification must generally take place within 3 days.
If a dispute cannot be resolved through mediation or arbitration, the union must get a majority of members to approve a strike by a direct, secret and unsigned ballot.
LRC-CA-90.10
What are the regulations on workplace safety and health for employee in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended), art. 4 (Korean).
Employees may not work more than six hours per day or 34 hours per week in workplaces designated as having dangerous environments.
Employers must require employees to have all relevant permits and licenses associated with dangerous or hazardous work.
Employees in these environments are also required to comply with intermittent health checks, including one at the beginning of employment.
Women and children under the age of 18 are forbidden from working in dangerous or hazardous environments.
Some businesses, principally those with 100 or more employees, must employ one person whose sole responsibility is safety and health.
Employers of this size also must employ a medical doctor if the safety and health officer does not have a medical license and establish an occupational safety and health committee made up of employer and employee representatives to discuss and establish policies on workplace safety and health issues.
LRC-CA-100.10
What are the circumstances that an employer can terminate an employee in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended), arts. 23-27 (Korean).
Under Korean labor law, employers may not fire, lay off, suspend, or transfer a worker, cut a worker’s pay or take other punitive measures against a worker without just cause.
Dismissal of employees is difficult and should be avoided as much as possible through careful hiring.
Just cause for termination would include lack of aptitude, continuing unsatisfactory work, debilitating disease, breach of the employment contract, egregiously unacceptable misconduct on the job, misrepresentation about education or work experience, improper relationship with another employee or criminal violation.
LRC-CA-100.11
What is the notification period for terminating an employee in South Korea?
How much is the severance pay?
Evershine RD:
Employers must give employees either 30 days’ notice of dismissal or 30 days’ compensation instead of notice.
Employers are exempted from the notification requirement in the following cases:
- when employees are hired on a daily basis for a period of less than three months
- when employees are contracted to work for a fixed period of two months or less
- when workers are employed on a monthly basis for less than six months
- when seasonal employees are contracted for a period of six months or less
- when probationary employees are employed for less than three months
- when workers cause considerable harm to the business or intentionally damage workplace property; and
- when it is impossible to continue business because of extraordinary circumstances such as natural disaster, armed conflict, or bankruptcy.
Employees are entitled to severance pay of one month’s salary for each year of employment paid within two weeks of termination of employment.
Evershine RD:
Dismissal process provided by Rules of Employment (ROE) must be complied, such as a disciplinary committee hearing.
The employer must file the ROE with the Ministry of Employment and Labour.
Failure to comply with the procedural requirements may result terminated employee to reinstate and back pay.
Termination notice must be in writing, include the termination reasons and date of termination.
LRC-CA-100.20
What are the regulations on mass layoffs in South Korea?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended), arts. 24-25 (Korean).
An employer may lay off employees if there is a transfer, acquisition or merger of the business in order to avoid financial difficulties and if every effort to avoid the layoffs has been made.
The employer must use fair criteria for the dismissals, give 50 days’ notice of the layoffs to workers’ representatives and hold consultations with them.
In the event of layoffs of more than 10 percent of employees, businesses must give 30 days’ notice to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
After a layoff, if an employer seeks to hire for the same jobs within three years, it must give preference to the laid-off employees.
LRC-CA-100.30
What is the time limit for employer in South Korea to pay employees upon termination?
Evershine RD:
According to Labor Standards Act, No. 12,325 of 1997 (as amended), art. 13 (Korean).
Paid within two weeks of termination of employment.
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E-mail: sel4ww@evershinecpa.com
or
Contact us by Skype or WhatsApp in the day-work-time of China (GMT+8)
The Engaging Manager from Headquarter
Project Manager Cindy Victoria Speak in Bahasa, English, and Chinese.
Whats App +886-989-808-249
wechatid: victoria141193
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