How Many Days of Annual Leave Do I Get? — How to Calculate It and Annual Leave Pay

Who does this apply to?

• It applies if you work at a workplace that regularly has 5 or more workers. If you work on an E-9 visa, the same rules apply to you as to Korean workers.
• The annual leave rules do not apply to workplaces with fewer than 5 workers. In this case, check if your 근로계약서 (employment contract) or the company rules (취업규칙) include annual leave.
• At farming, livestock and fishing workplaces (근로기준법 (Labor Standards Act) Article 63), the rules on rest days do not apply. But paid annual leave does apply.

How many days of annual leave do I get?

Length of continuous work	Annual leave you get
Less than 1 year after starting	1 day for each full month without absence (maximum 11 days)
1 to 2 years	15 days
3 to 4 years	16 days
5 to 6 years	17 days
7 to 8 years	18 days
21 years or more	25 days (the limit)

If you worked 1 year or more but your attendance rate is less than 80%, you do not get 15 days. Instead, you get 1 day for each full month without absence.

When your attendance rate is calculated, time off because of a work injury or work-related illness, maternity leave (before and after birth), and parental leave all count as days you came to work (근로기준법 Article 60, Paragraph 6). Time off for a work accident (산재) does not reduce your annual leave.

Example — you started work on March 1, 2024

As of September 2026, it works like this.

1. 2024-03-01 to 2025-02-28 (first year): you get 1 day for each month without absence, 11 days in total. You must use these 11 days by February 28, 2025.
2. 2025-03-01: you have finished 1 year. If your attendance rate is 80% or more, you get 15 days. You can use them until February 28, 2026.
3. 2026-03-01: you get 15 days again. You can use them until February 28, 2027.
4. 2027-03-01: this is your 3rd year, so you get 1 extra day. You get 16 days.

So, as of September 2026, the leave you can use is the days you have not used yet from the 15 days you got on March 1, 2026. Since you started, you have received 41 days in total (11 + 15 + 15).

Some companies do not count from your start date. They count by the fiscal year (usually from January 1). This is allowed. But when you leave the job, if you got fewer days than you would by counting from your start date, the company must pay you for the difference.

How much is annual leave pay?

It is based on your ordinary wage (통상임금 — your regular fixed pay). The formula is simple.

Ordinary hourly wage × scheduled working hours per day × number of unused days

For example, your ordinary hourly wage is 10,320원, you work 8 hours a day, and you could not use 5 days. Then:

• 10,320원 × 8 hours = 82,560원 per day
• 82,560원 × 5 days = 412,800원

Here, 10,320원 is the 2026 minimum wage. If your ordinary hourly wage is different, use your own amount to calculate.

Leave use promotion system

The company may not have to pay for unused leave (근로기준법 Article 61). This is only if the company followed all the steps below in writing, and the worker still did not use the leave.

1. Within 10 days from the point 6 months before the end of the 1-year period for using the leave, the company tells you in writing how many days you have left. It asks you in writing to decide when you will use them and tell the company.
2. If you do not answer within 10 days, the company decides the dates for your leave and tells you in writing, at least 2 months before the end of the 1-year period.

For people who have worked less than 1 year, the periods are shorter (3 months before and 1 month before).

This is important. Telling you only by speaking, or putting up one general notice for everyone, does not count as the promotion procedure. Also, if the company set a leave date but you came to work that day and the company made you work, the promotion has no effect. You can get the pay.

When you leave the job

• When you leave the job, you get paid for all your remaining annual leave.
• As a rule, the company must pay within 14 days from your last day of work.
• If there is no other rule, it is calculated using the ordinary wage.
• Annual leave pay is also wages, so you must claim it within 3 years.

When annual leave is used in place of public holidays

If the company makes a written agreement with the workers' representative (근로자대표), it can give you specific working days off in place of annual leave days (근로기준법 Article 62). For example, the company gives you a day off on a working day before or after a holiday period, or on a working day between two holidays, and takes 1 day from your annual leave.

• There must be a written agreement with the workers' representative. The boss cannot decide this alone.
• At workplaces with 5 or more workers, public holidays are already paid days off. It is not correct to take annual leave days for days that are already days off.
• Check your 급여명세서 (pay slip) every month to see how many leave days were taken.

Things to watch out for

• As a rule, you use annual leave on the days you choose. The company can ask you to change the date only if your leave would cause serious problems for the business.
• If the company wants to count a day you were absent as annual leave, it needs your consent.
• Some companies decide in advance to "pay a fixed amount each month instead of annual leave." This is a problem if the amount is less than the leave you actually earned. You can claim the difference.
• If the company gives you no annual leave at all, this breaks the 근로기준법.

What to prepare

• 근로계약서 (employment contract) and company rules (취업규칙)
• 급여명세서 (pay slips) (annual leave pay item, record of leave used)
• A document that shows your start date
• Leave request forms, and messages between you and the company

Frequently asked questions

Q. If I quit on the day I finish 1 year, do I get the 15 days? A. No. You get the 15 days only if you work one more day after 1 year. If you quit after exactly 1 year, you are paid only for the 11 days you earned in the period under 1 year.

Q. Are days off for sickness taken from my annual leave? A. If you take time off for personal reasons and say you will use annual leave, the days are taken from your annual leave. But time off because you were injured at work (산재) counts as days you came to work, so your annual leave does not go down.

Q. My company says it will not give me annual leave. A. At a workplace with 5 or more workers, this breaks the law. Call 1350 or 1577-0071 for advice. You can also file a complaint (진정 — an official report to the labor office) on the Labor Portal (노동포털).

Q. The company does not pay my annual leave pay. What can I do? A. Annual leave pay is also wages. You report it the same way as unpaid wages (임금체불). You can submit a complaint online on the Labor Portal (labor.moel.go.kr). You can also visit the regional labor office (지방고용노동관서) that covers your workplace. If you need an interpreter, call 1345 and ask for 3-way call interpretation.

Where to get help

Organization	Phone	What they do
외국인종합안내센터 (Immigration Contact Center)	1345	Advice in 20 languages, 3-way call interpretation
외국인력상담센터 (Migrant Worker Counseling Center)	1577-0071	Labor advice in 18 languages
고용노동부 (Ministry of Employment and Labor) 고객상담센터 (Customer Service Center)	1350	Advice on annual leave and pay
고용노동부 노동포털 (Labor Portal)	labor.moel.go.kr	Annual leave calculator, online complaint filing