Hiring in South Korea

South Korea’s tech talent and advanced economy are a draw, but its labor laws require expertise. Omnipresent, as your Employer of Record (EOR), ensures compliance with NTS regulations, no entity needed.

Our EOR services cover payroll, benefits like 15 days of leave, and tax filings, freeing you to oversee teams in Seoul or Busan. We offer a tech-driven solution for South Korea’s high-standard market.

• Swift hiring, fully compliant.
• Payroll in KRW, locally managed.
• Local benefit and wage insights.
• Hassle-free scaling support.

Employer costs include National Health Insurance, National Pension Insurance, and Employment Insurance. Use the OmniCalculator to estimate costs or contact us for further information.

The rate of personal taxation varies depending on the income tax bracket the individual belongs to. This ranges between 6.6% - 46.2%.

Employee contributions include National Pension, Long-term Care Insurance, and National Health Insurance. This list is non-exhaustive, please contact us for further information.

The rate for National Health Insurance will remain unchanged in 2024, but the rate for Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) will rise 1.09% effective January 1, 2024 . The new LTCI rate for the 2024 fiscal year will be 0.9182%, up from 0.9082%.

Statutory limit of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

As long as an employer and an employee has an agreement, overtime is possible for up to 12 hours per week. Except for pregnant workers or female workers within 1 year after childbirth, there is no limit for daily overtime for adult workers. Overtime rate is 150%.

No paid sick leave. If provided, specify in the contract or in the Rules of Employment (known in other jurisdictions as the employee handbook). The Rules of Employment contains policies relating to employment such as family leave, retirement, health and safety and holidays.

Maternity: Female employees must be granted 90 days paid maternity leave for single birth and 120 days in case of multiple births which can be used before and after birth. At least 45 days (60 days in case of multiple births) must be used after childbirth. Compensation for the first 60 days (75 days in case of multiple births) is paid by the employer, while the remaining days are paid from the Employment Insurance Fund.

Parental: If the employee (father or mother) has worked for the same employer continuously for a minimum of 6 months and has a child / children of up to 8 years old or in second grade or below in elementary school, they have an entitlement to unpaid childcare leave of up to 1 year. In addition, if a pregnant female employee requests leave of absence for childcare for protection of her maternity, the company should grant it.

1st year: employees are entitled to 11 days per year.

2nd and 3rd years: employees are entitled to 15 days per year.

3rd year and onward: one day’s paid leave is added for every two years of employment, up to a total of 25 days.

Additional leave may be applicable.

Payable regardless of the reason for termination with one months’  salary (including any bonus paid within the previous 3 months) per continuous year of service.

The employee must have been employed for at least 1 year with the employer.

Termination can be by written notice but requires “justifiable reason to terminate.” According to the Korean Supreme Court, the reason must be “directly attributable to the employee.”

In general, stealing, missing an excessive number of days of work, and violating laws related to the job, have all been deemed enough to terminate, but it is more difficult for an employer to establish “justifiable reason to terminate” based on poor performance since the court precedents set high standards.

Prior to termination, it is advisable to contact an attorney to allow the company not to terminate an employee in violation of law.

In short it is almost impossible to dismiss employee in ordinary way in Korea. In most instances, both employer and employee should mutually agree to terminate the agreement.