Weekly Holiday Allowance: the 15-Hour Rule and Showing Up

As of September 24, 2026. This post covers only when a weekly holiday allowance arises and how the hours are calculated. The scheduled working hours in your employment contract come first.

Who it applies to

Workers whose scheduled working time is 15 hours or more per week, and who worked all their scheduled days in that week. Below 15 hours, the paid weekly holiday rules do not apply. If you were absent on a scheduled workday, that week does not generate a weekly holiday. For disputed days such as annual leave or lateness, check your contract and the company's employment rules.

The formula

At 40 hours a week (8 hours a day, 5 days a week), the weekly holiday is 8 hours.

Weekly holiday allowance = 8 hours × hourly wage

Using the 2026 minimum wage alone: 8 × 10,320 = 82,560 won. This amount is added on top of your weekly wage — it is not money already contained in the 10,320 won hourly rate.

If scheduled weekly hours are less than 40

Weekly holiday hours = weekly scheduled hours × 8 ÷ 40

At 15 hours a week, the weekly holiday is 3 hours. At the minimum wage: 3 × 10,320 = 30,960 won.

Why the monthly minimum wage is 2,156,880 won

The monthly minimum wage of 2,156,880 won is the monthly figure that adds 8 weekly-holiday hours to the 40 hours, giving 209 hours a month. 209 × 10,320 = 2,156,880. If your monthly pay does not include that weekly holiday on top, converting your pay back to an hourly rate can put you below 10,320 won.

Example

20 hours a week, hourly wage 10,320 won, worked all scheduled days that week.

Weekly holiday hours = 20 × 8 ÷ 40 = 4 hours. Weekly holiday allowance 41,280 won. Wages that week: 20 × 10,320 = 206,400 won. Weekly total 247,680 won.

Sources

Article 55 of the Labor Standards Act. The 15-hour weekly threshold is in the enforcement decree of the same act. The 2026 minimum wage and the 209-hour / 2,156,880 won figures come from Ministry of Employment and Labor Notice No. 2025-47 and Korea Briefing (2025.12.19).