Wages - Wages must be paid directly to the employee in local currency, and paid on a fixed date at least once a month. (Article 43 of the Labor Standards Act) - The minimum wage in 2021 is 9,160 Korean won per hour and 1,914,440 korean won per month. Working hours Excluding companies with less than 5 employees. (1) Basic working hours. - Working hours per day cannot exceed 8 hours excluding break time, and working hours per week cannot exceed 40 hours excluding break time. (Article 50 of the Labor Standards Act) - If the parties agree, working hours can be extended to a limit of 12 hours in two weeks. - However, employers with fewer than 30 workers can agree to an additional eight-hour overtime in writing with the labor representative until December 31, 2022. - For overtime work, night work (10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day), and holiday work, workers must receive additional payment equal to 50% in addition to the regular wages. (Article 56 of the Labor Standards Act) (2) Break Workers should be given at least 30 minutes if they have 4 hours of working hours and at least 1 hour of rest if they have 8 hours. (Article 54 of the Labor Standards Act) (3) Flexible working hours When a written agreement is concluded with the labor representative, the average period of more than 3 months and less than 6 months may be 40 hours per week and 12 hours on a specific day to the extent that the total working hours of 1 week does not exceed 40 hours in total. Working hours in a specific week cannot exceed 52 hours and working hours on specific days cannot exceed 12 hours. (Article 51-2 of the Labor Standards Act) (4) Selective working hours For workers who decide of their owen start and finishing horus pursuant to the rules of the employer, the settlement period of up to one month (3 months in the case of research and development of new products or new technologies) is reduced according to a written agreement with the labor representative. On average, workers may be allowed to work more than 40 hours per week and 8 hours per day as long as the average working hours per week does not exceed 40 hours. (Labor Standards Act Article 52) Holiday (Article 55 of the Labor Standards Act) - The employee must guarantee workers an average of at least one paid holiday per week. - Employers shall guarantee workers a paid holiday pursuant to each subparagraph of Article 2 (excluding No. 1) of the Regulations on Public Holidays of Government Offices and alternative holidays pursuant to Article 3 of the same Decree starting from January 1st, 2022. Annual paid leave Excluding companies with less than 5 employees. - The employer should give one day of paid leave for each month of work. (Article 60 (2) of the Labor Standards Act) - The employer must allow 15 days of paid leave to workers who have worked more than 80 % over a year. (Article 60 (1) of the Labor Standards Act) - Workers who have worked less than 80 % in a year must be given one day of paid leave for each month of work. (Article 60 (2) of the Labor Standards Act) - In the case of 1-year fixed-term workers, a total of 11 annual paid leave days will be given per year when resigning from December 16, 2021. Legal compulsory education Excluding companies with less than 5 employees. - Safety and health education should be conducted on a quarterly basis. (Article 29 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act) - Sex harassment prevention education in the workplace should be conducted at least once a year, but if all businesses, business owners, and workers with less than 10 employees consist of one gender, they distribute and put the educational materials or promotional material on notice boards. (Article 13 of the Act on Equal Employment and Work-Family Balance) - Personal information protection education should be conducted at least once a year for at least one hour only for those in charge of handling personal information. (Article 28 of the Personal Information Protection Act) - Education for improving awareness of the disabled in the workplace should be conducted at least once a year for at least an hour, but businesses with less than 50 employees can replace them by distributing and putting simple training materials on notice boards. (Article 5-2 of the Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation Act for the Disabled) Dismissal Excluding companies with less than 5 employees. The employer shall not dismiss, take a leave of absence, suspension, change of job, salary reduction, or other punishment to the worker without justifiable reasons and should notify in writing the reasons and timing for dismissal. (2) Notice of dismissal In order to dismiss an employee, the employer must give at least 30 days' notice. (Labor Standards Act Article 26). Retirement benefits The employer must pay an average wage of at least 30 days to a worker who retires after working for at least one year as a severance pay for one year of continuous working period. (Articles 34 of the Labor Standards Act and Articles 4 and 8 of the Workers' Retirement Benefit Guarantee Act) Maternity protection (1) Maternity Leave before and after childbirth (Article 74 of the Labor Standards Act) - The Employee should give women 90 days in total of maternity leave before and after childbirth (120 days if they are pregnant with more than one child at a time) and of the 90 days at least 45 days should be taken after childbirth (60 days if they are pregnant with more than one child at a time). - However, if it falls under Article 43 of the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act, the leave must be However, in the case of reasons prescribed in Article 43 of the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act, leave must be divided and used any time before childbirth (60 days if pregnant with more than 1 child). (2) Parental leave. Employers must allow employees to apply for a leave of absence to raise children under the age of 8 or under the second grade of elementary school (Article 19 of the Act on Equal Employment and Work-Family Balance Support). (3) Protection of pregnant women - Pregnant workers must not be forced to work overtime. (Labor Standards Act, Article 74, Paragraph 5) - Women under one year after childbirth are prohibited from overtime work exceeding 2 hours per day, 6 hours per week, and 150 hours per year. (Labor Standards Act Article 71) - Pregnant women are prohibited from working at night or on holidays. (Labor Standards Act Article 70 Paragraph 2) (4) Reduction of working hours during pregnancy Women workers within 12 weeks of pregnancy or after 36 weeks are guaranteed the right to claim a reduction in working hours by 2 hours per day, and the employer cannot reduce wages due to the reduction in working hours. (Labor Standards Act Article 74, Paragraphs 7 and 8) [link text="Ministry of Employment and Labor" url="https://www.moel.go.kr/english/" type="external"][link text="Korean Law Information Center" url="https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/eng/engMain.do?eventGubun=060124" type="external"][link text="Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA)" url="https://www.kosha.or.kr/english/index.do" type="external"][link text="Korea Labor Standards Act" url="https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=43289&lang=ENG" type="external"]

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