Your payslip and unpaid wages — the document they must give you, and the 3-year clock

The single most useful document in any Korean wage dispute is the payslip (임금명세서) — and since 2021 the employer has had to give you one, in writing, every time you are paid.

If you have never received one, that is the first thing to fix, before anything else.

Short answer

Payslip        must be delivered IN WRITING (electronic counts) every payday,
               itemised, including any deductions           (Art. 48(2), added 2021)
Not doing it   administrative fine of up to 5 million won   (Art. 116(2))

Unpaid wages   claim expires after 3 YEARS                  (Art. 49)
Shutdown       70% of average wage for days the employer shut down  (Art. 46)
Final pay      everything within 14 DAYS of leaving         (Art. 36)
Non-payment    up to 3 years' imprisonment or a 30m won fine (Art. 109(1))

The payslip is a legal document, not a courtesy

Article 48(2) (added 18 May 2021):

When paying wages, the employer shall deliver to the worker a payslip in writing (including an electronic document) stating the components of the wages, the method of calculation, and the details of any deduction made under the proviso to Article 43(1), and other matters prescribed by Presidential Decree.

Three things must appear: what the wage is made of, how each part was calculated, and what was taken out. A bank transfer with no breakdown does not satisfy this.

Article 48(1) separately requires the employer to keep a wage ledger for each workplace, recording the basis of calculation and the amounts every time wages are paid.

Failing to comply is an administrative fine of up to 5 million won under Article 116(2). More practically: without a payslip, a later dispute becomes your memory against their records.

The deduction line matters especially for foreign workers, because dormitory and meal charges show up there. A deduction needs a basis in an Act or a collective agreement — see your employment contract on the "in full" principle.

Three years, and then it is gone

Article 49:

A claim for wages under this Act shall lapse if not exercised for three years.

Three years from when each payment fell due — not three years from when you leave. Wages from four years ago are gone even if the arrears are undisputed.

This is why "I will sort it out when I go home" is the wrong plan. Raise it while you are here, and while the records still exist.

Days the employer shut down

Article 46(1):

Where a business is shut down for a cause attributable to the employer, the employer shall pay the worker, for the shutdown period, an allowance of at least 70 percent of the average wage. Provided, that where 70 percent of the average wage exceeds the ordinary wage, the ordinary wage may be paid as the shutdown allowance.

"No work today, so no pay today" is not correct where the reason is the employer's. No orders, no materials, equipment down — those are the employer's side of the relationship, and the 70% applies.

Paragraph 2 allows less than 70% only where continuing the business is impossible for unavoidable reasons and the Labour Relations Commission has approved it. An employer deciding this alone has not met the condition.

Note that shutdown allowance is calculated on average wage, the same three-month calendar-day figure used for severance — see severance pay in Korea.

When you leave

Article 36 — where a worker dies or leaves, the employer must pay wages, compensation and all other money within 14 days of the cause arising. The parties may agree to extend it where there are special circumstances.

Fourteen days is short by design, because it is meant to be settled before people scatter. For a worker flying home, it is the difference between being paid and not.

The penalties

Article 109(2) — wage offences cannot be prosecuted against the victim's express wishes. That means your position matters to whether a case proceeds, and it is also why employers sometimes press for a settlement and a withdrawal.

The exception is an employer already named on the public list of wage defaulters who offends again during the publication period.

Article 43-2(1) — that list is real. An employer with two or more convictions for wage arrears in the past three years and arrears totalling 30 million won or more in the past year can be publicly named (amended 22 October 2024).

What to keep, starting today

Photographs of paper documents are fine. What matters is that the record exists outside the workplace.

Where to go

The Ministry of Employment and Labour on 1350 provides foreign-language counselling and handles wage complaints. Filing a complaint does not require you to have left the job, and Article 109(2) means you keep a say in how far it goes.

If your employer is an E-9 sponsor, wage arrears above the thresholds in Ministry Notice No. 2021-30 are also a ground to change workplace without using up a count — see changing workplace on an E-9.

Frequently asked questions

I have never received a payslip. Article 48(2) has required one at every payment since 2021. Ask for it in writing, and mention the article.

They pay in cash with no record. Cash payment is not itself unlawful, but the payslip duty still applies, and without records you carry the risk. Keep your own daily log.

They say business was bad, so there is no pay for those days. If the shutdown was for a cause on the employer's side, Article 46 requires 70% of average wage.

Can I claim after I leave Korea? The three-year limit under Article 49 keeps running. Ask 1350 before you fly about how to pursue it from abroad.

Sources

Labor Standards Act (근로기준법)
   [in force 2026-08-20] [Act No. 21373, amended 2026-02-19]
   Art. 36 (settlement of money) · Art. 43 (payment of wages)
   Art. 43-2 (publication of wage defaulters) · Art. 46 (shutdown allowance)
   Art. 48 (wage ledger and payslip) · Art. 49 (three-year limitation)
   Art. 109 (penalties) · Art. 116 (administrative fines)
   https://www.law.go.kr/법령/근로기준법

Ministry of Employment and Labour: 1350 (foreign-language counselling)