My Company Has Fewer Than 5 Workers — What You Still Get and What You Do Not Get

When Does This Apply to You

This is for people who work at a small restaurant, small factory, farm or shop with the owner and only a few workers. This guide helps you check if it is true when someone says, "We are a small company, so you do not get that."

What You Get and What You Do Not Get

Rules That Apply Even With Fewer Than 5 Workers (Based on Table 1)

Item	Details	Legal basis
Minimum wage	10,320원 per hour in 2026. All workplaces	Minimum Wage Act Article 3
근로계약서 (employment contract)	You sign a contract that lists your wages, working hours and days off, and you get 1 copy	Labor Standards Act Article 17
Wage payment	At least once a month, on a fixed day, in full, in cash (or bank transfer)	Article 43
임금명세서 (pay statement)	When you are paid, you also get a pay statement	Article 48
주휴수당 (weekly holiday pay)	If you work all your scheduled workdays in a week, you get 1 paid day off per week	Article 55 Paragraph 1
Break time	30 minutes for 4 hours of work, 1 hour for 8 hours	Article 54
Dismissal notice	Your employer must tell you 30 days before, or pay you 30 days of ordinary wages (not for workers who worked less than 3 months)	Article 26
No dismissal during work injury or maternity leave	You cannot be fired while you rest because of a work injury or illness, and for 30 days after	Article 23 Paragraph 2
Maternity leave (before and after birth)	90 days	Article 74
Final payment after leaving	Wages and severance pay must be paid within 14 days after your last day	Article 36
퇴직금 (severance pay)	You get it if you worked 1 year or more and 15 hours or more per week	Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act Article 4
Industrial accident insurance	If you get hurt, apply to 근로복지공단 (Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service). Workplace size does not matter	Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act Article 6
Unpaid wage complaints and penalties	Investigation by a labor inspector and penalty rules apply the same way	Articles 101–106, Article 107 and after

What the Law Does Not Guarantee With Fewer Than 5 Workers

Item	At workplaces with 5 or more	Legal basis
Extra pay for overtime, night and holiday work	1.5 times (2 times for holiday work over 8 hours)	Article 56
Annual paid leave	1 day per month in the first year, 15 days after 1 year	Article 60
Paid public holidays	Paid days off on public holidays such as Seollal and Chuseok	Article 55 Paragraph 2
Working hour limit	40 hours per week + 12 hours overtime = 52 hours maximum	Articles 50 and 53
Ban on unfair dismissal and unfair dismissal claim	No firing without a fair reason; claim to the 노동위원회 (Labor Relations Commission)	Article 23 Paragraph 1, Article 28
Shutdown pay	70% of average wage if the company makes you stop work for its own reasons	Article 46
Ban on workplace bullying	Duty to accept bullying reports and investigate	Article 76-2

At a workplace with fewer than 5 workers, if you work overtime, you still get wages for the hours you worked (1 times). Only the increase to 1.5 times is not in the law.

How Do You Count "5 Regular Workers"

The counting method is in Enforcement Decree Article 7-2.

1. Take the 1 month before the day the problem happened (for example, the day you did not get extra pay). Add up the number of people who worked on each day (total worker-days).
2. Divide that total by the number of days the business was open in that period (working days).
3. If the result is 5 or more, it is a workplace with 5 or more workers.

The count includes full-time workers, contract workers, part-time workers and foreign workers — all of them. Type of job and nationality do not matter. The owner is not counted. The owner's family members are counted if at least 1 worker who is not family also works there. Dispatched workers (workers sent from an agency) are not counted.

For example, a shop is open for 20 days. Every day, the owner's wife and 3 workers work there, and 1 part-time worker comes on 10 days. The total is 4×20 + 10 = 90 worker-days. 90 ÷ 20 = 4.5, so it is a workplace with fewer than 5 workers. If it is unclear, a labor inspector counts it using attendance records.

For annual leave (Articles 60–62), the rule is stricter. The workplace must have had 5 or more workers for the whole past 1 year (Enforcement Decree Article 7-2 Paragraph 3).

Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing Are Different

E-9 workers on farms, livestock farms and fish farms are not covered by the rules on working hours, breaks and holidays, even if the workplace has 5 or more workers (Labor Standards Act Article 63). So the law does not guarantee weekly holiday pay, break time or extra pay for holiday work. However, extra pay for night work (10 p.m. to 6 a.m., 50%) and annual leave do apply. Minimum wage, severance pay and full payment of wages also apply the same way.

Steps — How to Check Your Company's Size and Your Rights

1. Count the people who work with you. Do not count the owner. Count family members, part-time workers and foreign workers. Write down how many people usually work each day. If you record it every day for 1 month, it is most accurate.
2. Read your 근로계약서 (employment contract). Check if it has items for extra pay, leave or bonuses. Even with fewer than 5 workers, you can get any extra pay written in your contract. A contract can give you better terms than the law.
3. Check your 급여명세서 (pay slip). Check that hourly wage × hours is at least minimum wage, and that weekly holiday pay is included. See the 30-second pay check guide.
4. If something is missing, first ask the company in writing (text message or messenger app). If they do not answer or say no, go to the next step.
5. Call 1350 or 1577-0071. Ask if your company has 5 or more workers and which items you can get.
6. File an unpaid wage complaint on the Labor Portal (labor.moel.go.kr) or at the 지방고용노동관서 (regional labor office) for your workplace's area. A labor inspector will check the number of workers. As a rule, you must claim unpaid wages within 3 years.

What to Prepare

• 근로계약서 (employment contract), 급여명세서 (pay slip), bank deposit records
• Records of your start and finish times (photos, notes, app records)
• Notes on how many people worked with you (you do not need names; the number of people for each date is enough)
• Text and messenger conversations with the company

Be Careful

• "We have fewer than 5 workers, so there is no minimum wage" is wrong. Minimum wage, weekly holiday pay and severance pay apply even if the employer hires only 1 worker.
• Dismissal notice also applies with fewer than 5 workers. If you worked more than 3 months and suddenly hear "Don't come in from tomorrow," you can claim 30 days of ordinary wages. However, you cannot file an unfair dismissal claim at the Labor Relations Commission if there are fewer than 5 workers.
• Some employers try to make the number of workers look smaller. For example, they say family members are not workers, or they sign up only some workers for the 4 social insurances. The real number of people who work is what counts.
• Even with fewer than 5 workers, you get any annual leave or extra pay written in your contract. The contract comes first.
• In 2026, the government is discussing a wider use of the Labor Standards Act at workplaces with fewer than 5 workers as a national policy task (based on news from 2026-10-04). If the law changes, check this guide again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. We have 4 workers, and I work 2 hours of overtime every day. Can I get 1.5 times pay? A. It is hard to get it under the law. But you must get wages (1 times) for the 2 hours of overtime. If your employment contract says "50% extra pay for overtime," you can get it as promised.

Q. The owner's son also works with us. Is he counted? A. If at least 1 worker who is not family works there, family members are counted too. Only the owner is not counted.

Q. We have fewer than 5 workers. I worked 1 year and I am quitting. Do I get severance pay? A. Yes. Severance pay is set by the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act, and it applies no matter how big the workplace is. E-9 workers first get money from the 출국만기보험 (departure guarantee insurance). If it is not enough, you claim the difference. For details, see the severance pay guide.

Q. My employer has not paid my salary for 2 months. Can I not report it because there are fewer than 5 workers? A. You can. The rules on wage payment and the penalties apply to all workplaces. File a complaint on the Labor Portal or call 1350 for advice.

Where to Get Help

Organization	Phone	Help with
고용노동부 (Ministry of Employment and Labor) Customer Counseling Center	1350	Whether you have 5 or more workers; extra pay, dismissal and unpaid wage advice
외국인력상담센터 (Counseling Center for Foreign Workers)	1577-0071	Labor advice in 18 languages
외국인종합안내센터 (Immigration Contact Center)	1345	20 languages, 3-way call interpretation
고용노동부 노동포털 (Ministry of Employment and Labor Labor Portal)	labor.moel.go.kr	File unpaid wage complaints online
국가법령정보센터 (Korea Law Information Center)	law.go.kr	Original text of the Labor Standards Act and Enforcement Decree Table 1