Statutory annual leave: minimum workplace size
The gate that gets left out of almost every explanation of Korean annual leave, including guides written for foreign employees. Below it, Article 60 does not apply and there is no statutory leave to calculate — only whatever the contract or workplace rules promised, which is a different question with a different remedy. Checking headcount before entitlement saves an argument built on the wrong statute.
- Applies to
- Workplaces in Korea, deciding whether the Labor Standards Act’s annual leave provisions apply at all
- Review cadence
- Checked once a year
What we have recorded
- 2026-09-195 employees
Statutory annual leave under art. 60 applies at workplaces with five or more ordinary employees. Below that the entitlement is not statutory; any leave promised in the employment contract or the workplace rules stands on that promise instead. The 15-hour weekly threshold applies on top of this, not instead of it.
Labor Standards Act, application to workplaces with five or more ordinary employees
One reading so far. This becomes a history the first time the figure moves while we are watching — which is the part that cannot be reconstructed later.
Guides that depend on this figure
- Annual Leave in Korea: How It Actually Accrues
- Unpaid Wages and Unfair Dismissal: Two Routes
- The 52-Hour Week in Korea, and What It Does Not Buy
When this figure moves, every guide above needs the same edit. That is why it is tracked here rather than copied into each one.