I'm leaving a job after working over a year — do foreigners get severance pay?
I've worked as a full-time employee at a Korean company for about a year and two months, and I'm resigning next month. I'm not sure whether foreign workers are entitled to severance pay (퇴직금) or how the amount is calculated. If the company refuses to pay, where can I turn for help?
1 Answer
I went through this myself when I left my first company here, so I can reassure you: severance pay applies to foreign employees exactly the same as Korean ones. If you worked at one workplace for at least a year and averaged 15 or more hours a week, you qualify, and your year and two months easily counts. Roughly, it's about one month's salary for each year worked; the formal formula is your average wage over the last three months times 30 days times your days employed divided by 365. The company is supposed to pay within 14 days of your last day. If they refuse or stall, you can file a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor. I called the labor counseling line at 1350, which has foreign-language support, and they walked me through filing at the regional labor office. Keep your contract and pay slips as evidence.