Annual Paid Leave: Korea's Statutory PTO System
It is like a recharge coupon that lets you take a day off to rest while still receiving your full daily paycheck.
Definition It is legally mandated paid time off granted to employees who work diligently for a specified period. Under South Korea's Labor Standards Act, workers can take time off without any pay reduction, allowing them to recharge physically and mentally and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
A Paid Ticket Earned After a Year of Hard Work
Just like a smartphone needs to be plugged into a charger overnight after a full day of use, workers need dedicated time off to recharge their drained energy.
Annual paid leave (*yeoncha*) is a statutory right granted to employees at workplaces with five or more staff members in South Korea. If you maintain an attendance rate of at least 80% during your first year, you earn 15 days of paid time off. Taking these days off counts as regular working hours, so your salary remains completely untouched.
New hires who have worked for less than a year do not need to worry. During your first year, you earn 1 day of paid leave for every month of perfect attendance, allowing you to use up to 11 days before completing your first full year.
More Years of Service Mean More Vacation Days
The longer you stay with a company, the more days of paid rest you receive. Starting from the baseline of 15 days, an extra day is added for every two continuous years of service after your first three years. That means 16 days in your fourth year (after completing 3 full years), 17 days in your sixth year, and so onβscaling up to a legal maximum of 25 days.
By law, employees have the right to schedule their leave on the dates they choose. Employers cannot unilaterally force you to take leave on specific days. A company may only request that you reschedule your leave if your absence would cause severe disruption to overall business operations, such as shutting down an entire production line.
Even part-time or contract workers qualify for annual paid leave proportionally, as long as they work at least 15 hours per week.
What Happens to Unused Paid Leave?
Annual paid leave must be used within one year from the date it is granted. What happens if you are too busy to use all your days within that year? In principle, you are entitled to cash compensation for the days you worked instead of resting, which is paid out as an unused leave allowance. This payout is calculated based on your regular wage and added to your paycheck.
However, you are not automatically guaranteed a payout in every situation. If your employer follows formal legal procedures by sending written notices asking you to submit a leave schedule (known as the annual leave promotion system) and you still do not take the days off, your right to claim cash compensation can be forfeited.
Ultimately, the true goal of the law is not to cash out unused vacation, but to encourage employees to take timely rest to protect their health and well-being.
π€ Common misconceptions
New hires cannot take a single day of paid annual leave until they finish their first full year.
Employees with less than one year of service earn one day of paid leave for each month of full attendance, allowing them to use up to 11 days during their first year.
π§Ί Where you meet it
Annual paid leave is a statutory right granting employees paid time off based on attendance, with unused days compensated in cash unless the employer properly initiates the legal leave promotion process.