Unpaid Wages in Korea? How to Claim Your Back Pay and Severance from the Government (2026)

Three deadlines decide whether you get paid

Most people lose this money to a calendar, not to an argument. Nothing here depends on your employer agreeing with you.

Behind all three sits a longer limit: a wage claim itself expires 3 years after the payday it was due (Labor Standards Act, Art. 49). The 1-year and 2-year deadlines are for this government fund. The 3-year limit is for the wage itself.

The order matters. Filing the petition does not get you the money. The petition produces a document, and the document is what you take to the fund — within 6 months of the day it is issued.

How much the government actually pays

Two separate caps apply, and most people only hear about the first one.

Cap on the amount

Cap on the period

This second table is the one that surprises people. If your employer has not paid you for eight months, the fund covers the last three of those months, up to 7 million won — not all eight. The rest does not disappear, but you can only recover it from the employer through a civil claim.

And if you worked less than a year, you have no severance entitlement, so your ceiling is the wage cap of 7 million won alone — not 10 million.

You do not have to quit first

The rule that you must leave the job before claiming was removed in 2021. A worker still employed can claim, if all of the following are true (Wage Claim Guarantee Act, Art. 7-2; Enforcement Decree, Art. 7(3)):

• You were still under contract with that employer when you filed the petition, and you are not a daily worker on a contract shorter than one month.
• Your contractual ordinary wage averages less than 110% of the minimum hourly wage. This is the government's threshold for the scheme, not a judgment about you.
• You filed within 1 year of the day after the most recent unpaid payday (or within 2 years if you go the lawsuit route).

For a worker still on the job, the cap is the 7 million won wage cap. The severance cap applies only to workers who have left.

Proof: what to bring, and what to do if you have no contract

The Labor Office decides on evidence, not on who sounds more convincing. Bring whatever you have.

• Standard employment contract (표준근로계약서)
• Payslips, and bank records showing what was actually deposited
• Attendance records — fingerprint or card logs, work diaries, daily job sheets
• Text messages and KakaoTalk conversations about pay, hours, or promises to pay
• Photos taken at the workplace

If you have no written contract, you can still file. A missing contract is the employer's violation, not yours. These have been accepted as evidence:

• A work log you wrote yourself, day by day
• Photos on your phone with their dates and location data
• Statements from co-workers who worked the same shifts
• Any record showing money that was paid, so the gap can be measured

Write down what you remember now, while the dates are still clear. A record made close to the events carries more weight than one reconstructed a year later.

The three steps

1. File a petition at the Labor Office. Go to the regional Employment and Labor Office covering your workplace address, or file online through the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Bring your evidence.
2. Receive the confirmation. A labor inspector calls both sides and investigates. Once the unpaid amount is established, the Ministry issues a Confirmation of Unpaid Wages and Employer (체불 임금등·사업주 확인서). This is issued on the strength of the investigation — your employer does not have to agree, cooperate, or even show up.
3. Claim from the Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service. Take the confirmation to the Service (근로복지공단) and claim, within 6 months of the date it was first issued. Payment goes to an account in your own name (Wage Claim Guarantee Act, Art. 11).

Before you sign anything your employer puts in front of you

Employers often offer a settlement once the petition lands. Read it before you sign.

• A no-litigation clause ends everything. Wording like "the parties raise no further civil or criminal claims regarding this matter" means that if you later find something that was left out, you cannot claim it. The signature closes the whole case, not just the amount written on the page.
• The amount owed is usually larger than the base pay. Overtime and night premiums, weekly holiday allowance, unused annual leave pay, and severance are all part of it. A settlement calculated on base salary alone leaves the rest behind.
• Late payment carries 20% annual interest. Wages still unpaid after you leave accrue interest at 20% a year (Labor Standards Act, Art. 37; Enforcement Decree, Art. 17). It does not apply if the business has gone insolvent, or while the amount is genuinely being contested before a court or the Labor Relations Commission (Decree, Art. 18). Check whether the offer includes it.

If you are unsure what a document says, do not sign it that day. Nothing is lost by taking it away and asking someone first.

If you have to leave Korea

Leaving the country does not cancel what you are owed. A claim can be pursued after you go, but only if you set it up before you fly. Prepare:

• A power of attorney, so someone in Korea can act for you
• A Korean bank account you keep open, or full details for an overseas transfer
• Copies of your contract, payslips, and attendance records — carry them yourself, do not rely on the company keeping them
• Contact details for co-workers who can confirm your hours
• Copies of your passport and residence card

Do this while you are still in Korea. Arranging a power of attorney and a receiving account from abroad is far harder than arranging them the week before departure.

If you want to move to another workplace (E-9 / H-2)

Workers on employment permits often stay in an unpaid job because they believe changing workplaces will use up one of their limited transfers. For unpaid wages, it usually does not.

Unpaid wages count as the employer breaching working conditions, which is a ground for requesting a workplace change (Act on Foreign Workers' Employment, Art. 25(1)(2)). A change made on that ground is excluded from the 3-transfer limit (Art. 25(4)). Whether your case is recognised on that ground is decided against the Ministry's published standards, so confirm it with your Employment Center rather than assuming either way.

Two deadlines apply here and they are short (Art. 25(3)):

• 1 month from the end of your contract to apply for a workplace change
• 3 months from that application to obtain the change-of-workplace permit

Miss either and you are required to leave the country. Deal with the workplace change and the unpaid wages at the same time — the wage claim does not pause these deadlines.

Free help in your language

You do not have to do any of this in Korean, and none of it costs money.

Write to Kori Care first. Tell us what happened in your own language. We will work out which office handles it, what you need to bring, and what any letter you have been sent actually says. If something has to be written in Korean, we will help you write it. We are not a law firm and we do not charge. Send us a message

If you would rather go direct:

• 1577-0071 — Foreign Workforce Counselling Centre. 18 languages including Thai and Vietnamese. Every day, 09:00 to 18:00.
• 132 — Korea Legal Aid Corporation. Free legal advice, but in Korean only — they do not provide interpreters, so bring someone who can. Dial 132 with no area code.
• 1350 — Ministry of Employment and Labor. Labor questions. English and Chinese only.
• Foreign Workers Support Centers. In-person help with documents and interpretation.

Questions people ask

Can I apply if I do not have a valid visa?

Your right to be paid for work you already did does not depend on your visa. The Labor Standards Act applies to anyone who actually worked.

On the question everyone actually worries about — whether filing exposes you to immigration — the law does address it. Immigration reporting duty has an exception (Immigration Act, Art. 84(1) proviso), and the list of exempt work explicitly includes investigation and supervision of unpaid wages at a workplace (Enforcement Rule, Art. 70-2(5)).

But the exemption is not automatic. It applies where the official handling your case judges that your relief should come first (Enforcement Decree, Art. 92-2(5)). That is a decision made case by case, and it covers what the inspector learns during that investigation — not every other way your status might come up.

So the honest answer is: there is a real legal basis for this, and it is not a guarantee. Call 132 first, explain your actual situation, and let them tell you where you stand before you go anywhere. They will tell you what to prepare and whether to file now. A phone call leaves no record.

What if my employer ignores the Labor Office or will not answer calls?

The confirmation is issued on the inspector's findings. Your employer's consent is not required, and neither is their cooperation. Whether the business is bankrupt or simply refusing to pay, the government pays you and then pursues the employer for the money.

My employer keeps promising to pay next month. Should I wait?

A verbal promise does not stop the clock. The 1-year deadline runs from the day after your last working day whether or not your employer is being friendly about it. If you are close to that date, file the petition and keep talking — filing does not prevent a settlement, and it preserves the option if the promise falls through.

What if I have no bank account, or my account is frozen?

Payment must go to an account in your own name; you cannot receive it through someone else. If your account is under seizure because of debt, you can open a Substitute Payment Account (Happy Keeper Account), which cannot be seized, and receive the money there.

I left that job over a year ago. Is it finished?

The petition route has closed, but the wage itself has not expired — a wage claim lasts 3 years from its payday. Within 2 years of leaving, a court judgment still opens the same fund. Beyond that, the claim is against the employer directly. Call 132 with your dates before you conclude anything.

Do I need a lawyer or a labor attorney?

Not for the petition itself — you can file it yourself, and the Labor Office investigates without charge. Get professional help if the amount is large, if your employer has produced documents you disagree with, if a settlement has been put in front of you, or if you are leaving the country. Start with 132, which is free.

Kori Care Local DirectoryFind labor attorneys and lawyers near you who work with foreign residents

Sources: Wage Claim Guarantee Act, Articles 7, 7-2 and 11 · Enforcement Decree, Articles 7 and 9 · Labor Standards Act, Articles 37, 38 and 49 · Ministry of Employment and Labor Notice No. 2021-81, “Notice on the Upper Limit of Substitute Payment for Unpaid Wages” (in force 14 October 2021) · Act on Foreign Workers’ Employment, Article 25 · Immigration Act, Article 84 and its Enforcement Rule, Article 70-2.
Amounts and deadlines change when the system changes. Check the current standards at the Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (1588-0075) or the Ministry of Employment and Labor (1350) before applying.
This document explains the system and is not legal advice. For individual cases, contact the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (132) or a certified labor attorney.