Mitra KoreaDid you work on October 5 or 9? What to check on your October 급여명세서 (pay slip)
October 5 (Mon) and October 9 (Fri), 2026 are public holidays. If you worked on these days, your pay slip should show a 'holiday work' item.
Quick summary
- October 5, 2026 (Mon) is the substitute public holiday for National Foundation Day (개천절, October 3, a Saturday). October 9 (Fri) is Hangeul Day (한글날). Both are official public holidays.
- If your workplace has 5 or more regular workers, these two days are paid holidays. If you rest, your monthly pay is not cut.
- If you worked on these days, you get 1.5 times your ordinary wage for up to 8 hours, and 2 times for hours over 8.
- When you get your October pay, look for the 'holiday work allowance' (휴일근로수당, or holiday work hours) item on your pay slip. If it is not there, you can ask the company how your pay was calculated.
- General information about public holiday pay is in Working on Chuseok and Seollal holidays and your pay. This page covers only the two October dates and how to check your pay slip.
Does this apply to me?
It applies to you if all three of these are true.
- You went to work on October 5 (Mon) or October 9 (Fri), 2026.
- Your workplace has 5 or more regular workers. (Count all workers, including the owner's family and foreign workers.)
- Your work is not farming, livestock or fishing. (Under Article 63 of the 근로기준법 (Labor Standards Act), holiday rules do not apply to these jobs.)
If you work at a workplace with 4 or fewer workers, or on a farm, livestock barn, fish farm or fishing boat, the law does not give you extra holiday pay. If your 근로계약서 (employment contract) has a promise about holidays, that promise applies.
How much extra should I get? (based on the minimum wage of 10,320원 per hour)
| My situation | Calculation | Amount added to October pay |
|---|---|---|
| Worked 8 hours on October 5 | 10,320 × 8 × 1.5 | 123,840원 |
| Worked 8 hours on both October 5 and 9 | 123,840 × 2 | 247,680원 |
| Worked 10 hours in one day | 8 hours × 1.5 + 2 hours × 2 | 165,120원 |
| Worked 10 hours on both days | 165,120 × 2 | 330,240원 |
- If you are paid monthly, the 100% for the paid holiday is already in your monthly pay. The amounts above are extra money on top of your monthly pay.
- If you are paid by the hour or by the day, you should get paid holiday pay for 8 hours (100%) + 150% for the hours you worked on that day. For 8 hours, this is 206,400원.
- If your ordinary hourly wage is higher than 10,320원, use your own hourly wage.
Steps: what to do after you get your pay slip
Pay for work in October comes at the end of October or early November, depending on the company's payday. When you get your pay slip, check these in order.
- Check that you got a pay slip. Every time the company pays you, it must give you a 임금명세서 (wage statement) on paper, by text message, KakaoTalk or email (Labor Standards Act Article 48(2)). If you did not get one, you can ask for it.
- Look for the 'holiday work' item. When the company makes you do overtime, night work or holiday work, the pay slip must show the number of hours. Look for words like '휴일근로수당' (holiday work allowance) or '휴일근로 ○시간' (holiday work ○ hours).
- Compare the hours and the amount. Check that the total hours you worked on October 5 and 9 are written, and that the amount is close to the table above.
- If the item is missing or the amount is different, ask the company. For example: "Where is my pay for working on the October 5 and 9 public holidays? Please tell me how it was calculated." If you ask by text or messenger, there will be a record.
- If the company says "we swapped the holiday" (휴일대체), ask to see the written agreement. The extra pay is not owed only when the company made a written agreement with the workers' representative and gave you another day off. A spoken promise is usually not accepted.
- If there is no answer or they do not pay, get counseling. For Nepali and other languages, call 1577-0071 (외국인력상담센터, Foreign Workers Counseling Center). For Korean, call 1350 (고용노동부, Ministry of Employment and Labor). If the problem is not solved after counseling, you can file an unpaid wage complaint (임금체불 진정). How to do this is in How to report unpaid wages.
What to prepare
- Your October 급여명세서 (pay slip) (photo or file)
- Proof that you worked on October 5 and 9: attendance records, fingerprint or card records, work photos, text messages with work instructions, transit card records from your commute, etc.
- Your 근로계약서 (employment contract), and the 취업규칙 (company work rules) if there are any
- Screenshots of texts or messenger messages where you asked the company
- 외국인등록증 (Alien Registration Card)
According to 고용노동부, a complaint takes 25 days to handle (not counting Saturdays and public holidays). This can be extended two times. Counseling and filing a complaint are free.
Be careful
- October 3 (Sat) itself is not the substitute holiday. National Foundation Day fell on a Saturday, so October 5 (Mon) is the holiday instead. Pay for working on that Saturday depends on the company's rules for weekly rest days and scheduled workdays.
- "You worked on the holiday, so you can rest next week instead" is not a holiday swap if there is no written agreement. In this case, you can claim the extra pay.
- If you rested but your pay for that day was cut, that is also a problem. At workplaces with 5 or more workers, public holidays are paid holidays, so the company must not take them out of your pay.
- Check that the day was not counted as annual leave (연차). At workplaces with 5 or more workers, public holidays are already paid holidays, so the company cannot take that day from your annual leave.
- Take a photo of your pay slip every month and save it. It is the most important proof if there is a dispute later.
- Your right to get your wages lasts 3 years. Even if you do not get your October pay right away, do not give up.
Frequently asked questions
Q. My pay slip has no 'holiday work allowance' item at all. My pay is the same as usual. A. If your workplace has 5 or more workers and you worked on October 5 or 9, you should get extra pay. First, ask the company how your pay was calculated. If they do not answer, call 1577-0071 or 1350 and have your pay slip ready.
Q. My boss says, "Everything is already included in your monthly pay." A. What is included in your monthly pay is the 100% for the paid holiday. The 150% for the work you did on that day is separate. Even with an all-inclusive wage contract (포괄임금, a contract where some extra pay is included in a fixed amount), if your real holiday work hours are more than the hours in the contract, you can claim the difference. Get counseling and bring your contract.
Q. I worked past 10 p.m. on October 9. A. Work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. gets an extra 50% for night work. Night work within the first 8 hours of holiday work is paid 2 times your ordinary wage. Night work after 8 hours is paid 2.5 times.
Q. My company has 4 workers. A. At workplaces with 4 or fewer workers, the rules on paid public holidays and extra holiday pay do not apply. You still get wages for the hours you work (100%) and the minimum wage.
Q. I work on a farm. I also worked on October 5. A. Under Article 63 of the Labor Standards Act, holiday rules do not apply to farming and livestock work, so the law does not guarantee extra pay. Check the holiday section of your employment contract.
Where to get help
| Organization | Phone | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| 외국인력상담센터 (Foreign Workers Counseling Center) | 1577-0071 | Counseling about pay and pay slip problems, many languages, weekdays 09:00~18:00 |
| 고용노동부 고객상담센터 (Ministry of Employment and Labor Call Center) | 1350 | Counseling about public holidays, holiday work pay and complaints |
| 외국인종합안내센터 (Immigration Contact Center) | 1345 | Interpreter connection, 20 languages |
| 고용노동부 노동포털 (Ministry of Employment and Labor Labor Portal) | labor.moel.go.kr | File an unpaid wage complaint online |
| 관할 고용노동관서 (your local labor office) | Visit in person | File complaints and criminal complaints (customer support office) |