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Written Agreements

Under South Korea's Labor Standards Act, all employers in Korea must conclude a written agreement with their employees, which must at a minimum provide information on the following:

• Wages
• Contractual working hours
• Holidays
• Weekly paid days off
• Paid annual leave

The employer must also provide a written statement to the employee if any of the above terms of the employment contract are changed.

• An employer must issue a written statement to an employee specifying the components of the wage, the calculation method, and the payment modality. Any agreement that does not satisfy the standards prescribed by the Labor Standards Act and other binding laws on working conditions will be void to the extent that it fails to meet those legal requirements.

The Supreme Court of South Korea maintains that non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in employment contracts are enforceable if they are reasonable. Even if a non-competition agreement exists between an employer and an employee, if such agreement excessively restricts the employee's freedom of job choice and right to work or excessively restricts free competition, it must be considered invalid.

Oral Agreements

South Korea's Labor Standards Act states that oral contracts cannot be used for part-time employees. Oral contracts are not prohibited for use with full-time employees. However, certain terms related to wages, contractual work hours, weekly time off, and paid annual leave must be provided to the employee in writing when the employment contract is concluded.

Implied Agreements

South Korea's Labor Standards Act does not contain provisions on the use of implied employment contracts.

Per the amended Labor Standards Act of South Korea, standard work hours are 40 hours per week or 8 hours per day. An employer can extend work hours in a particular week or day according to the employee's contract. However, the average work hours per week during a specific period (of not more than 2 weeks) must not exceed 40 hours, and work hours in any particular week shall not exceed 52 hours or 12 hours a day.

New Year’s Day: 1 January; Lunar New Year’s Day (Seollal): 31 December – 2 January by Lunar calendar; Independence Movement Day (Sam Il Jul): 1 March; Children’s Day (Uhrininal): 5 May; Buddha’s Birthday: 8 April by Lunar calendar; Memorial Day: 6 June; Independence Day (Kwang Bok Jul): 15 August; Harvest Moon Festival; (Chuseok): 14 August – 16 August by Lunar calendar; National Foundation Day (Kae Chun Jul): 3 October; Hangul Day: 9 October; Christmas Day: 25 December.

South Korea's Labor Standards Act (LSA) does not limit the length of employee probationary periods. The LSA stipulates that employers do not need to provide the traditional 30-day notice of dismissal during an employee's probationary period. Typically, probationary periods are governed by the employee's individual labor contract and last between 3-6 months.

Notice Period

According to South Korea's labor law, when an employer intends to dismiss an employee (including dismissal for business reasons unrelated to the employee's conduct), the employer must give the employee a notice of dismissal of at least 30 days. If the employer fails to give such advance notice, the employer must pay that employee their ordinary wages for no less than 30 days. The notice requirement does not apply where a natural disaster, calamity, or other unavoidable circumstance prevents the continuance of the business, where the employee has caused a considerable hindrance to the business, or where the employee has intentionally inflicted damage to the employer's property.

Employers are not required to provide notice to the following employees:

• An employee employed daily, who has been employed for less than 3 consecutive months
• An employee who has been employed for a fixed period not exceeding 2 months
• An employee who has been employed for less than 6 months as a monthly paid employee
• An employee who has been employed for any seasonal work for a fixed period not exceeding 6 months
• An employee on a probationary period

Severance Benefits

Per South Korea's labor law, a full-time employee is entitled to receive severance pay equal to at least 1 month's average wages for each year of continuous employment if they have worked for at least 1 year. During the qualifying year, the employee must have worked for more than 15 hours per week or more than 60 hours per month.

Severance pay is to be paid within 2 weeks of termination unless otherwise agreed. Additionally, it must be paid regardless of the reason for termination. The employee's "average wages" includes all wages paid by the employer to the employee for the 3 months before the date of departure divided by the total number of days during the same period.

Minimum Wage

Effective January 1, 2025, the minimum wage is KRW 10,030 won per hour.

Apprentices who have been in apprenticeship for less than 3 months are excluded from the minimum wage.

The Labor Standards Act of South Korea requires employers to pay wages to their employees at least once a month on a fixed day. This does not apply to extraordinary wages, allowances, or other similar payments.

Overtime, Holiday & Vacation Pay

South Korea's labor law defines regular working hours as 40 hours per week and 8 hours per day. Overtime is work beyond 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.

Overtime is paid at 150% of normal hourly wages, as is work completed on a holiday (up to 8 hours). Employees performing overtime work (more than 8 hours) on a holiday are entitled to 200% of their normal hourly wages.

Employees are paid their regular wages while on annual leave.

Visas

• Short-term visit - Valid for up to 90 days' stay in South Korea for tourism (B-2), business visits (C-3), or working holiday (H-1)
• Medical treatment (C-3-3, G-1-10) - Granted to a patient who plans to enter Korea for medical treatment or recuperation by a local medical institution or a caregiver (including family member) of a patient
• Study purpose (D-2, D-4) - Granted for studying in South Korea for the duration of the course
• Professional visa - Granted for skilled employment/research in South Korea for short-term (C-4) or long-term, or business startup or professor (E-1) or intra-company transfers
• Workaction "Digital Nomad" (F-1-D) - Granted to professionals who meet the employment and salary requirements (Pilot Program)
• Non-professional - Granted for unskilled work in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, fishery, household work, etc.
• Journalism/ Religious reason - Granted for short-term (C-1) or long-term (D-5) reporting or religious purposes (D-6)
• Investment (D-8) - Granted for those coming to invest in South Korea
• Work and Visit (H-2) - Granted to family members of employees working in South Korea
• Marriage Migrant (F-6) - Granted to spouse of a Korean national
• Trainee (D-1 to D-3) - Granted to trainees in arts and culture, industry, chef, etc.
• Diplomatic/Official visa - Granted to diplomats or foreign government officials
• Intra-Company Transferee (D-7) - Granted to individuals who have worked at a foreign headquarters, branch, or office of a foreign company and are dispatched to an affiliate, subsidiary, or branch in South Korea

On January 1, 2024, the Government of South Korea introduced the (F-1-D) Workation (Digital Nomad) Pilot Program. This program will be reviewed at the end of 2024 to determine whether the Workaction visa will be offered permanently. With the Workaction Visa, foreigners and their families can work remotely in South Korea for up to 2 years if all requirements are met.

Work Permits

The Immigration Service of South Korea does not provide work permits per se, but work status is determined by visas.

Foreign nationals must generally obtain the appropriate visa before they enter South Korea for business or work purposes. Employers may not use or employ foreigners who do not have proper work visas.

There are 36 types of visas, nine of which are related to the visa-holders' employment. The visas fall into the general categories of business and employment visas.

There are four types of business visas:

• Temporary business visas (C-3 visas)
• Intra-company transfer visas (D-7 visas)
• Corporate investments (D-8 visas)
• Trade management visas (D-9 visas)

The D-7 visa is the most common visa for a foreign national employed by a foreign company or a foreign company's subsidiary.

Employment visas are issued to foreign nationals who wish to be directly employed by a South Korean company:

• C-4 visas are for foreign nationals working for the South Korean employer for 90 days or less.
• There are four other employment visas issued only to foreign nationals taking high-skilled work: research (E-3), technology consulting (E-4), licensed profession (E-5), and specially designated activities (E-7).