Korean Contractual Holidays vs. Statutory Holidays: Korean Paid Leave/Holidays Explained

The, only, statutorily mandated holidays, in Korea, are the Weekly Holidays under Article 53 of the Korean Labor Standards Act; Labor Day under Article 55; Maternity/Paternity Leave under Article 74; and Annual Paid Leave under Article 60. These statutorily mandated holidays in Korea are required to be paid holidays under Korean law.

Most companies recognize Sunday, Independence Movement Day, Foundation Day, Liberation Day, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, Lunar New Year, Hangul Day, Buddha’s Birthday, Christmas Day, Children’s Day, Election Day, and Memorial Day as days off. These Public Holidays and Sick Leave are not required to be paid days off.  However, most companies specify that these are paid leave days under the rules of employment of the company.

Thus, for example, a company may require an employee to take time off on a particular Public Holiday instead of taking annual paid leave. Also, an employer may dock annual leave for a sick day. These practices, however, are rare in practice. Please note Korean Labor Law is an evolving area of law and significant changes are typical with each new administration.

For additional articles on Korean Labor & Employment Law please see: Korean Labor & Employment Law Archives.

Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty. Sean is ranked, for Korea, as one of only a few non-Korean lawyers as a Top Attorney by AsiaLaw,  IPG Legal is consistently ranked a Top Dispute Resolution Law Firm for our litigation, arbitration, and mediation services, and IPG Legal is consistently rated a top-tier law firm in corporate law, litigation, arbitration, franchise law, distribution law, estate law, family law, employment & labor law, and criminal defense.

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