Mitra Korea2026 Chuseok Holidays (9/24โ26): How Much You Get If You Work, and What Happens to Your Pay If You Rest
The 2026 Chuseok holidays run from September 24 (Thu) to 26 (Sat). September 28 (Mon) is not a substitute holiday. At workplaces with 5 or more workers, these days are paid holidays. If you rest, your pay is not cut. If you work, you get 150% of your ordinary wage for up to 8 hours. These rules do not apply to farming and livestock work.
Quick summary
- The 2026 Chuseok holidays are 3 days: September 24 (Thu), 25 (Fri) and 26 (Sat). The 27th is a Sunday. The 28th (Mon) is not a substitute holiday. For the Lunar New Year and Chuseok, a substitute holiday is only given when the holidays fall on a Sunday. Falling on a Saturday does not count.
- At a workplace with 5 or more regular workers, these 3 days are legal paid holidays. If you rest, your pay for those days is not cut.
- If you work on these days, you get 150% of your ordinary wage (ํต์์๊ธ, your normal pay rate) for up to 8 hours. For hours over 8, you get 200%.
- At farming, livestock and fishing (including fish farming) workplaces, the holiday rules do not apply. Paid public holidays and extra pay for holiday work are not guaranteed by law. It depends on what your ๊ทผ๋ก๊ณ์ฝ์ (employment contract) says.
- Workplaces with 4 or fewer workers also do not have to give paid public holidays or extra holiday pay.
How much should you get? (based on the 2026 minimum wage of 10,320์)
| Situation | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| You rest on Chuseok (monthly pay) | Already included in your monthly pay | Must not be cut |
| You work 8 hours on Chuseok (monthly pay) | 10,320์ ร 8 hours ร 1.5 | 123,840์ extra, on top of your monthly pay |
| You work 10 hours on Chuseok (monthly pay) | 8 hours ร 1.5 + 2 hours ร 2.0 | 123,840 + 41,280 = 165,120์ extra |
| You work 8 hours on Chuseok (hourly or daily pay) | Paid holiday pay for 8 hours at 100% + work for 8 hours at 150% | 82,560 + 123,840 = 206,400์ |
- If your ordinary wage is higher than the minimum wage, the calculation uses your higher wage.
- Your ๊ธ์ฌ๋ช ์ธ์ (pay slip) must show a separate "holiday work pay" (ํด์ผ๊ทผ๋ก์๋น) item with the hours. If it does not, first check your pay with How to check in 30 seconds if your pay meets the minimum wage.
When the company tells you to take more days off before or after the holidays
- If the company tells you to take the whole day off on September 28 (Mon) or 23 (Wed), this is not a public holiday. It is a shutdown (ํด์ ) for the company's own reasons. At a workplace with 5 or more workers, you must get a shutdown allowance of 70% of your average wage (ํ๊ท ์๊ธ) for that day.
- If the company wants to "count it as annual leave," it needs your agreement as a rule. This is allowed if there is a leave substitution system agreed in writing with the workers' representative. But the company must not take your annual leave on its own.
- If the company did a "holiday swap" (ํด์ผ ๋์ฒด) with a written agreement with the workers' representative to move the public holiday to another day, working on Chuseok counts as a normal workday. Instead, the agreed day becomes your paid holiday. In this case, there is no 150% extra pay. Ask if there is a written agreement.
Holiday bonus and gifts
- A holiday bonus or gift is not required by law. If it is written in your employment contract, the ์ทจ์ ๊ท์น (company work rules) or a ๋จ์ฒดํ์ฝ (collective agreement with a union), you must get it. If not, it is up to the company.
- If the company gives it to other workers but not to foreign workers, this may be discrimination.
If you have unpaid wages, act before the holidays
- ๊ณ ์ฉ๋ ธ๋๋ถ (Ministry of Employment and Labor) runs a special inspection period for unpaid wages before each major holiday every year. If you have unpaid wages, reporting before the holidays is faster.
- Nepali-language counseling: 1577-0071 (์ธ๊ตญ์ธ๋ ฅ์๋ด์ผํฐ, Foreign Workers Counseling Center, weekdays 9:00โ18:00). Korean: 1350 (๊ณ ์ฉ๋ ธ๋๋ถ). Both are closed during the holidays, so contact them by September 23 (Wed). For how to report, see Reporting unpaid wages.
Frequently asked questions
Q. I rest in the dormitory, but my boss says "days off are unpaid." At a workplace with 5 or more workers (except farming, livestock and fishing), the 3 Chuseok days are paid. The company must not take money out of your monthly pay.
Q. I worked only half a day (4 hours) on Chuseok. 4 hours ร your ordinary hourly wage ร 1.5. At the minimum wage, you get 61,920์ extra, on top of your monthly pay.
Q. My company has 3 workers. At workplaces with 4 or fewer workers, the rules on paid public holidays and extra pay for holiday work do not apply. If your employment contract has promises about holidays, those promises apply.
Q. I work on a farm. I also work on Chuseok. Holiday rules do not apply to farming and livestock work, so extra holiday pay is not guaranteed by law. But extra night pay (50%) for work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. does apply if there are 5 or more workers. Check the holiday section of your contract.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Things can change depending on the size of the workplace, the type of business and your employment contract. For your specific situation, call 1577-0071 (Nepali) or 1350.