Tom started at a Seoul marketing agency in March and wanted to take a week in Jeju over Chuseok. His manager said new hires "don't have vacation until year two."
By September Tom had worked six full months. He wasn't sure whether to push back.
Tom already has 6 days of paid leave. In your first year at a workplace with 5 or more employees, you earn 1 day for every month of full attendance, starting from month one.
How leave builds up
| Years worked | Paid leave days (연차) |
|---|---|
| Under 1 year | 1 per month of full attendance, up to 11 |
| 1 to 2 | 15 |
| 3 to 4 | 16 |
| 5 to 6 | 17 |
| 11 to 12 | 20 |
| 21+ | 25 (maximum) |
From your first anniversary you get 15 days for the year, as long as you came in on at least 80% of working days. From year 3, one more day is added every two years.
Does it apply to you?
Workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, such as many small hagwons and shops. Your contract may still promise vacation, and that promise binds the employer.
Any workplace with 5 or more employees, for full-time and part-time staff alike (part-timers get a share in proportion to their hours), if you work 15+ hours a week.
Public holidays such as Chuseok and Seollal are separate paid days off at 5+ employee workplaces. They don’t come out of your annual leave.
Unused leave becomes cash
Leave you couldn’t use is normally paid out at the end of the leave year as unused leave pay (연차수당):
Monthly ordinary wage ₩3,000,000 ÷ 209 hours × 8 = ₩114,833 per day
5 unused days × ₩114,833 = ₩574,165
There’s one exception. If your employer formally pushed you to use the days, in writing and on the legal schedule (연차 사용 촉진), and you still didn’t take them, they may not have to pay. When you leave a job, unused days are paid with your final salary, and they also raise your severance pay.
You choose your vacation dates. An employer can only ask you to move them if your timing would seriously disrupt the business, and "we're busy" every week of the year doesn't count.
See exactly how many days you have and when the next ones arrive with the annual leave calculator.
Sources: Labor Standards Act art. 55 (public holidays), 60 (annual leave), 61 (leave promotion); Enforcement Decree art. 30.
Try it with your own numbersAnnual Leave CalculatorEnter your start date to see your paid leave days today, when the next ones arrive, and what unused days are worth.Written from the laws and official notices in force on the date above. Rules change and every case is different, so check with the office named in the article before an important decision. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.