Korean weekly holiday pay
The paid weekly rest day that starts at 15 hours a week, and what it does to the real hourly rate.
Article 55 of Korea's Labor Standards Act requires at least one paid rest day per week on average. Article 18(3) excludes anyone whose contractual hours average under 15 a week, so eligibility comes before any amount. The amount is eight hours' pay at 40 hours a week or more, and proportional below that — which is why an effective hourly rate including this allowance runs about 20% above the quoted one.
Hourly rate and hours
What you enter is saved in this browser, so it is still here next time
The hours agreed in the contract; leave overtime out.
Present on every scheduled day. Lateness is not absence.
Weekly holiday allowance
Per week
₩80,240
Per month (4.345 weeks)
₩348,661
Paid hours
8 h
Effective hourly rate
₩12,036
Above 40 hours a week the allowance stops at eight hours' pay. The excess is overtime under Article 56, not holiday pay.
A month counts as 4.345 weeks (365 ÷ 7 ÷ 12), not 4. Using 4 loses nearly a month's worth over a year.
A direct calculation from the statute. Actual payment can differ under works rules and contracts; take disputes to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
Three conditions come first
Contractual hours of 15 or more a week, full attendance on that week's scheduled days, and an hourly rate above zero. Miss any one and the allowance is 0 and the page says so. Between 14 and 15 hours there is a cliff — at 10,030 an hour, 14 hours gives 0 and 15 hours gives three hours' worth, 30,090. One hour of difference moves the weekly pay by 30,090; that is the shape of the rule, and the page does not hide it.
Paid hours scale up to 40 and stop there
Paid holiday hours = min(contractual hours, 40) ÷ 40 × 8. Twenty hours a week gives 4, thirty gives 6, forty gives 8, and forty-eight still gives 8. Hours beyond 40 are overtime, dealt with under a different article, not holiday pay. The allowance is those hours times the hourly rate: 40 hours at 10,030 is 80,240, 20 hours is 40,120. Hours accept decimals, so 17.5 can be entered.
A month is 4.345 weeks, and the effective rate is 20% higher
The monthly figure multiplies the weekly one by 365 ÷ 7 ÷ 12 = 4.345 weeks. 80,240 becomes 348,661; counting four weeks would give 320,960, short by 27,701 every month — close to a month's worth over a year. The effective hourly rate is (hours × rate + allowance) ÷ hours, so at 40 hours it is (401,200 + 80,240) ÷ 40 = 12,036, 20% above the quoted rate. Below 40 hours that 20% holds whatever the hours; at 48 the allowance is capped at 8 hours and the effective rate falls to 11,702. Amounts drop fractions of a won.
What it does not do
It looks at one week as entered. It does not average four weeks for someone whose hours vary, so enter the average in that case. An absent week is handled only as far as toggling attendance to confirm 0; how lateness or early departure is treated is not covered. The overtime premium on hours beyond 40 belongs to the overtime calculator, and whether a monthly salary already includes the allowance depends on how the pay is structured, which this page cannot judge.
Common questions
QWhy is 15 hours the threshold?
Article 18(3) disapplies Article 55 (rest days) and Article 60 (annual leave) to anyone averaging under 15 contractual hours a week over four weeks. That is why the allowance jumps from nothing to something between 14 and 15 hours, and why both are worth looking at side by side.
QDo I lose it if I arrive late?
No. The condition is full attendance on scheduled working days, and that means not being absent — lateness and early departure do not remove it. An absence does remove that week's allowance.
QIs it already inside a monthly salary?
Usually yes. Counting a month as 209 hours already includes the eight paid holiday hours (40 + 8 = 48 hours × 4.345 weeks). Hourly and daily paid work has to have it calculated separately.
QAt 10,030 an hour and 20 hours a week, what is the allowance?
20 ÷ 40 × 8 = 4 hours' worth, so 40,120 a week, or 174,330 a month at 4.345 weeks. The effective hourly rate including it is 12,036, the same as for someone working 40 hours. Below 15 hours it drops to 0.
QDoes the allowance grow if I work more than 40 hours?
No. Paid hours stop at 8, so at 48 hours the allowance is still 80,240. The 8 hours beyond 40 are overtime with a 50% premium instead, computed on a different page. That is why the effective rate at 48 hours, 11,702, comes out below the 40-hour figure.