Updates on Amended Labor Laws of Korea
■ Expanded paid annual leave days benefit in the first 2 years for the new hire
Under Article 60 of the Labor Standards Act (LSA) of Korea, employers shall grant its employees 15 days of paid annual leave if the employees fulfilled at least 80% attendance during one (1) year. With respect to employees who have worked for less than one (1) year, employers shall grant one (1) day of paid leave for each completed month of service. Before amendment of the LSA, however, the paid leave days used during the first year can be deducted from the 15 days to be granted in the second year (Article 60, Paragraph 3).
Effective from May 29, 2018, the paid leave days earned and used in the first year will no longer be deducted from the 15 days to be granted in the second year (Articles 60, Paragraph 3 was deleted). Employees will be granted one (1) day of paid leave for each completed month of service in their first year and separately, employees should be granted 15 days in the second year if fulfilled 80% attendance requirement.
■ Reduced work hours to max 52 hours per week in Korea (to be adopted in phases depending on the company sizes)
In an effort to improve long working hours of the Korean workers and their quality of life, the Korean government announced that the maximum work hours including overtime and holiday work shall be limited to 52 hours per week under the amended LSA. This change will be adopted in different phases depending on company sizes as below:
- 300 or more employees: July 1, 2018
- 50 or more and less than 300: January 1, 2020
- 5 or more and less than 50: July 1, 2021
There are also other notable changes under the amended LSA as summarized below:
(temporarily for July 1, 2021 ~ December 31, 2022) |
This special extended work hours of maximum 8 hours per week is allowed for the companies having less than 30 employees only temporarily if agreed between the company and the representative of the employees |
(effective from July 1, 2018) |
Work hours for the minors are limited to 35 hours per week and overtime work hours are reduced from 6 hours to 5 hours per week |
(effective from March 20, 2018) |
50% additional pay for the first 8 hours of work on weekends/holidays, and 100% for work on holidays/weekends over 8 hours. |