Everything About Tenure and Annual Leave in Korea
How long have you been at your company, how many leave days do you have this year, and when does severance start to accrue? These are the basic numbers of Korean HR, yet they are easy to get wrong. This calculator takes just your hire date and returns your length of service (years, months, days, and total days), statutory annual leave, service milestones, and severance eligibility. The reference date defaults to today and can be switched to a planned leaving date.
Annual leave follows Article 60 of the Korean Labor Standards Act. Under 1 year of service you accrue 1 day per full month worked, up to 11 days; at 1 full year you receive 15 days. From 3 years of service, 1 day is added for every 2 years beyond the first year — 16 days at 3 years, 17 at 5, 18 at 7 — capped at 25 days. The tool lists each year's accrual, your cumulative total, and when the next increase lands.
Note that this follows the statutory hire-date basis. Companies granting leave on a fiscal-year (Jan 1) basis may differ in timing and counts, monthly leave in year 1 requires full attendance, yearly leave requires 80%+ attendance in the prior year, and the rules apply to workplaces with 5 or more employees. Check your company policy for exact figures.
Once you pass 1 full year of service, statutory severance also accrues (Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act, Article 8 — at least 30 days of average wages per year of service). The calculator shows whether you qualify or how many days remain, and you can continue to the Severance Calculator for the estimated amount. Pair it with the salary calculator for take-home pay and the D-day calculator for anniversaries.