Home › Working and studying in Korea at a glance
Weekly holiday allowance in Korea: who is entitled, how much, and a calculator from your hourly wage
Numbers checked against the official source on 2026-10-19
In Korea, an employer must give an employee at least one paid day off a week on average (Labor Standards Act Article 55), and the paid day goes to a worker who has attended all the scheduled working days of that week (Enforcement Decree Article 30). Workers whose scheduled hours average under 15 hours a week over 4 weeks are outside that rule (Article 18(3)). The law does not print a "weekly holiday allowance" formula; the pay for that day is one day's ordinary wage, which the Decree defines as the hourly wage times the scheduled hours in a day. The calculator below uses only that.
Law text: Labor Standards Act (근로기준법) as shown on the National Law Information Center, "[시행 2026. 10. 8.] [법률 제21533호, 2026. 4. 7., 일부개정]"; Enforcement Decree "[시행 2025. 10. 23.] [대통령령 제35436호]". Read on 2026-10-19.
Is the law page in force today?
The law page for Article 55 carries a "시행예정법령" (upcoming law) image. The revision history on the same site 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. Because today is 2026-10-19, the 2026-10-08 version is the one in force. The articles used here carry these own revision dates: Article 55 (2018), Article 18(3) (2008), Decree Article 30 (2018), Decree Article 6 (2018). None was amended in 2026, so the text equals what applies today, subject to the later versions we did not read.
Who is entitled
- Scheduled hours. Averaged over 4 weeks (or the shorter period you work), the scheduled hours per week must reach 15. Below 15, Articles 55 and 60 (paid holiday and annual leave) do not apply.
- Full attendance. The paid day goes to a worker who attended all scheduled working days in that week.
- Workplace size. Article 11(1): the Act applies to all businesses or workplaces regularly employing 5 or more workers, except those employing only co-living relatives and domestic workers. For workplaces with 4 or fewer, only the provisions listed in the Decree annex apply.
- Part-time ratio. Article 18(1): a part-timer's conditions follow a ratio based on the hours of a regular worker in the same kind of work.
How much
Article 55(1) guarantees the paid day. Decree Article 6(3) says that when the ordinary wage is worked out as a daily amount, it is the hourly amount times the scheduled working hours in a day. Putting the two together, the day's pay is hourly wage x scheduled hours in a day. For a worker with 8 scheduled hours a day, that is 8 times the hourly wage. This is our reading of how the two provisions fit; the statute does not spell out the formula, so check the figure with the labour office.
Weekly holiday pay calculator
Enter your own numbers. Example values are placeholders, not legal figures.
Not covered: the Decree annex on part-time conditions, ordinary-wage items (what counts in the hourly wage), the 4-week average itself, and workplaces under 5 workers. For the current wage floor see Minimum wage in Korea 2026.
Where the pages differ
This page follows the Act itself. The Ministry of Employment and Labor desk for holidays and annual leave is listed on the law page as 044-202-7973. This page is a summary, not legal advice; confirm with the labour office. Related: public holidays 2026 and severance pay.
Checked 2026-10-19.
Official sources
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 55 (holidays) — at least one paid holiday a week on average; in force 2026-10-08 (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 18 (part-time workers) — under 15 weekly hours (4-week average): Articles 55 and 60 not applied (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 11 (scope) — applies to workplaces with 5 or more workers (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Enforcement Decree, Article 30 (holidays) — paid holiday for full attendance of scheduled working days; in force 2025-10-23 (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Enforcement Decree, Article 6 (ordinary wage) — daily ordinary wage = hourly amount x scheduled hours per day (checked 2026-10-19)
- National Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act revision history — which version is in force and which are upcoming (checked 2026-10-19)
Prices change. If an official page shows a different number from this page, the official page wins — and please tell us so we can fix it.