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Annual paid leave in Korea: how many days you get by years of service, the 80% rule and what happens to unused days
Numbers checked against the official source on 2026-10-19
Under Article 60 of the Labor Standards Act, an employer must give 15 days of paid annual leave to a worker who attended at least 80% of the year. In the first year (or when attendance is under 80%) the worker earns 1 day for each month of perfect attendance. From the third year, 1 extra day is added for every 2 years beyond the first, with a cap of 25 days in total. Leave not used within the year lapses, unless the employer is at fault. Workers whose scheduled hours average under 15 a week do not get it.
Law text: Labor Standards Act (근로기준법) on the National Law Information Center, "[시행 2026. 10. 8.] [법률 제21533호, 2026. 4. 7., 일부개정]". Read on 2026-10-19.
Is this the version in force?
The law page carries a "시행예정법령" image, but the revision history lists the 2026-10-08 version as in force and five later versions (2026-12-08, 2026-12-10, 2027-01-01 twice, 2027-06-10) as upcoming; so the 2026-10-08 text applies on 2026-10-19. Article 60 shows these own revision dates: paragraph 1 and 2 (2012), paragraph 6 (2012, 2017, 2024, 2026-02-19), paragraph 7 (2020). The 2026-02-19 change is the one to note: it belongs to the revision listed with effect from 2026-08-20, so it is already in force. We did not read the upcoming versions.
The rules by article
| Situation | Leave | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| A full year worked with 80% or more attendance | 15 days | Article 60(1) |
| Service under 1 year, or under 80% attendance in the year | 1 day for each month of perfect attendance | Article 60(2) |
| 3 years or more of continuous service | 15 days plus 1 day for every 2 years of service beyond the first year; total capped at 25 | Article 60(4) |
| Pay during leave | Ordinary wage or average wage as set in the work rules | Article 60(5) |
| Lapse | Unused leave lapses after 1 year; for the first-year leave, at the end of the first year of work; not if the employer caused the non-use | Article 60(7) |
| Under 15 scheduled hours a week (4-week average) | Article 60 does not apply | Article 18(3) |
Counted as attendance for the 80% test: time off for a work injury or illness, pregnancy leave, childcare leave, and reduced hours for childcare or pregnancy (Article 60(6)). The employer must give leave when the worker asks, but may move the date if it would seriously disrupt the business (Article 60(5)).
Workplace size: Article 11(1) applies the Act to workplaces with 5 or more workers. The Decree (Article 7-2(3)) treats a workplace that had 5 or more workers continuously for the year before the reason arose as covered for Articles 60 to 62 (the first-year monthly leave in Article 60(2) is excepted from that rule).
What about unused leave payout?
Article 61 is about the employer's duty to compensate for unused leave. It says that if the employer follows the written notice steps (for ordinary leave: within 10 days at the 6-months-before point, a written request to the worker to fix dates, then the employer sets the dates in writing 2 months before the end), then the employer has no duty to compensate for leave that lapsed. Neither Article 60 nor 61, as fetched, gives a formula for the amount of compensation, and so this page has no payout calculator. If your employer skipped the notice steps, ask the labour office whether you can claim pay for unused days.
Leave-days calculator
Enter your completed years of service. The calculator uses only Article 60(1), (2) and (4), and assumes 80% or more attendance in each year. For service under 1 year, enter the months of perfect attendance.
Not covered: attendance under 80% in later years (1 day per perfect month applies instead), exact counting of partial years, payout amounts, and workplaces with 4 or fewer workers. The Ministry of Employment and Labor desk for holidays and annual leave is listed on the law page as 044-202-7973.
Where the pages differ
This page follows the Act itself and is a summary, not legal advice; confirm with the labour office. Related: weekly holiday pay, public holidays 2026 and severance pay.
Checked 2026-10-19.
Official sources
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 60 (annual paid leave) — 15 days, 1 day per month, +1 day per 2 years, cap 25, lapse; in force 2026-10-08 (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 61 (promoting use of leave) — employer's duty to compensate unused leave and the notice steps that remove it (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 18 (part-time workers) — under 15 weekly hours: Article 60 not applied (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 11 — 5-worker threshold (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Enforcement Decree, Article 7-2 — how the worker count is taken for Articles 60 to 62; in force 2025-10-23 (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act revision history — version in force and upcoming versions (checked 2026-10-19)
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