Unused Annual Leave Disappears at Year-End — If Your Company Does Not Set the Dates in Writing by October 31, You Get Paid for It

Who does this apply to?

• People who worked 1 year or more at a workplace with 5 or more regular workers. Even if you have worked less than 1 year, the same idea applies to the leave you get each month (only the schedule is different).
• Workplaces with fewer than 5 workers do not have legal annual leave. It applies only if your 근로계약서 (employment contract) says you have annual leave. See the article on workplaces with fewer than 5 workers.
• Annual leave also applies in farming, livestock, and fishing.
• How many days of leave you get is explained in the annual leave calculation article. This article only covers what to do before your leave disappears.

When is my base date?

A company manages annual leave in one of two ways.

Method	Day leave is created	Day it disappears	1st request	2nd notice deadline
Based on hiring date	Your work anniversary	The day before your next work anniversary	Within 10 days from 6 months before it disappears	2 months before it disappears
Based on fiscal year	January 1	December 31	July 1 – July 10	October 31

Check which method your company uses like this:

1. In your 근로계약서 (employment contract) and 취업규칙 (company work rules), find the part about "연차" (annual leave). If it says "회계연도 기준" (fiscal year basis), your base date is January 1.
2. If your 급여명세서 (pay slip) shows "연차 잔여 n일" (remaining leave n days), check whether this number resets every January or on your work anniversary.
3. If you cannot find either, ask the person in charge at your company by text message: "When is my annual leave base date?" Keep the reply.

Steps the company must follow (Labor Standards Act Article 61)

Workers with 1 year or more (Article 61(1))

1. 1st step — written request. Within 10 days, starting 6 months before your leave disappears, the company must tell each worker how many leave days are left, and ask in writing: "Please decide when you will use them and tell us." For a fiscal year company, this is July 1 – July 10.
2. Worker's reply — 10 days. Within 10 days of getting the request, the worker tells the company the dates they will use. If you set the dates and told the company, just take those days off.
3. 2nd step — company sets the dates. If the worker does not reply within 10 days, the company must set the leave dates and tell the worker in writing, at least 2 months before the leave disappears. For a fiscal year company, the deadline is October 31.
4. If all three steps were done correctly and the worker still did not take the days off, the company does not have to pay annual leave allowance.
5. If even one step was missing or late, you get paid for the leave that disappeared.

Workers with less than 1 year (Article 61(2))

The leave you get each month (1 day per month) can be used until your first work anniversary. The schedule for the steps is shorter.

• 1st request: within 10 days, starting 3 months before your first year ends. For leave created after the request, the company must request again within 5 days, starting 1 month before.
• 2nd notice: at least 1 month before your first year ends. For the leave requested later, at least 10 days before.

For example, a worker hired on January 2, 2026 can use the leave until January 1, 2027. The 1st request is October 1–10, 2026, and the 2nd notice must be by December 1, 2026.

How much is the annual leave allowance?

Ordinary hourly wage × regular work hours per day × number of unused days

At the 2026 minimum wage of 10,320원 and 8 hours a day, this is 82,560원 per day.

Remaining leave	Allowance
3 days	247,680원
7 days	577,920원
15 days	1,238,400원

If your ordinary hourly wage (통상시급, your basic hourly pay) is higher, use that amount. The allowance is usually paid with the salary of the month after the leave disappears. For a fiscal year company, check your salary for January or February of the next year.

Steps — what to do in October

1. Check your remaining leave. Look at "연차 잔여" (remaining leave) on your 급여명세서 (pay slip), or calculate it with the annual leave calculator on the 고용노동부 (Ministry of Employment and Labor) Labor Portal. Compare it with your own notes on the days you used.
2. Find the papers the company sent. Check if in July (or 6 months before, if your company uses your hiring date) you got a paper, email, or electronic approval saying "n days of unused leave, please tell us when you will use them." If there was none, the 1st step did not happen.
3. Ask the company in writing. Send a text or messenger message. Example: "I have n days of annual leave left. What will happen to them by the end of the year?" Keep the reply.
4. Use your leave if you can. If the company set dates and told you, take those days off. If there are days you want off, apply early.
5. If there was no notice, or it was late, wait for the allowance. Check for an "연차수당" (annual leave allowance) item on your pay slip in January–February (or the month after the leave disappears, if your company uses your hiring date).
6. If there is no allowance, call 1350 or 1577-0071 for advice, and file a complaint for unpaid wages on the Labor Portal (labor.moel.go.kr). Annual leave allowance is also wages, so you can claim it within 3 years.

What to prepare

• 근로계약서 (employment contract), 취업규칙 (company work rules, the annual leave part)
• 급여명세서 (pay slips) from the last 1 year (remaining leave and annual leave allowance items)
• Papers the company sent to push you to use leave (if any, keep photos)
• Records of your leave requests, and text messages with the company
• If you came to work on a set leave day, your attendance record and work order messages for that day

Things to be careful about

• Saying "use your leave" out loud is not a valid step. The law requires the company to do it for each worker, write down the remaining days, and do it in writing. One notice posted with the same content for everyone is also unlikely to meet the rules.
• If the company set the dates and then made you work, you get the allowance again. In a 2020 ruling, the Supreme Court said: if a worker came to work on a set leave day and the company did not clearly say "do not work" (refusal to accept work), or gave work orders, then the worker did not choose to skip the leave, so the company must pay the allowance (Supreme Court ruling 2019다279283, February 27, 2020).
• If the company sets the dates for you, really take those days off. If you come to work and work without clear reason, there may be a dispute later.
• When you leave the company, leave is settled no matter what. All remaining leave is paid as allowance. As a rule, you get it within 14 days from your last day.
• If you do not reply to the 1st request, the company sets the dates. If there are days you want off, reply within 10 days.
• From June 2027, new rules will be added: you can use annual leave in hours, and the company must not treat you badly because you used annual leave (amended law announced on 2026-06-09). Until then, the current rules apply.

Frequently asked questions

Q. The company gave me no papers in July. If my remaining leave disappears in December, do I get money? A. Yes. If there was no 1st request, the steps are not valid. You can claim the allowance for the days that disappeared.

Q. In October, the company gave me a paper saying "Take November 20 and 21 off." But we were busy, so I worked those days. A. If the company made you work, or just accepted you coming to work that day, you can claim the allowance. Keep records that you worked that day (photos at work, work messages).

Q. I have worked here for 8 months and have 5 days of leave left. When must I use them? A. Until your first work anniversary. If the company did not give a written request in your 9th month and a notice setting the dates by your 11th month, you get paid for the days you did not use.

Q. My company has 4 workers. A. Workplaces with fewer than 5 workers do not have legal annual leave. If your 근로계약서 (employment contract) includes annual leave, it is handled as promised there.

Q. Instead of paying the allowance, the company says "use it next year." A. By law, paying the allowance is the rule. If you do not agree, you can claim the allowance. If you agree to carry it over, keep a text message with the number of days and the deadline.

Where to get help

Organization	Phone	What they help with
고용노동부 고객상담센터 (Ministry of Employment and Labor Call Center)	1350	Advice on leave expiry, leave use steps, and allowance
외국인력상담센터 (Foreign Workers Counseling Center)	1577-0071	Labor advice in 18 languages
외국인종합안내센터 (Immigration Contact Center)	1345	20 languages, 3-way call interpreting
고용노동부 노동포털 (Ministry of Employment and Labor Labor Portal)	labor.moel.go.kr	Annual leave calculator, complaints for unpaid wages