SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Heejun Choi, Kyoung-Ho Kim, Sungsok Yang, Eunjee Kim and Kwang-Chun Park, Dentons Lee
formance or qualifications and the statutory written notice requirements for dismissals may also apply. 4.3 Working Time Under the Labour Standards Act, standard working hours are limited to 40 hours per week and eight hours per day, excluding recess periods. A “week” means seven days, including holidays and time during which an employee remains under the employer’s direction or supervision, including certain waiting time, consti - tutes working time. Korean law does not prescribe a statutory minimum working time for ordinary employees. However, employees whose prescribed working hours aver - age less than 15 hours per week over a four-week period are generally excluded from statutory weekly paid holidays, annual paid leave and, in some cases, retirement benefit coverage. Overtime is permitted only within statutory limits. With the employee’s agreement, an employer may require up to 12 hours of overtime per week, resulting in a maximum 52-hour working week. Overtime must be compensated at a premium of at least 50% above ordinary wages. The same premium generally applies to night work between 10pm and 6am. Holiday work attracts a premium of at least 50% for the first eight hours and 100% thereafter. Work exceeding contractual hours but remaining within the statutory maximum does not automatically attract the statutory overtime premium unless other - wise provided by the employment contract, work rules or a collective bargaining agreement. Employers must provide statutory rest breaks of at least 30 minutes after four hours of work and one hour after eight hours, including where working hours are extended. The Labour Standards Act also recognises flexible, selective, deemed and discretionary working-hour systems, together with special rules for certain indus - tries and categories of employees, subject to statutory requirements.
Accordingly, the basic rule in Korea is a 40-hour work - ing week with a 12-hour weekly overtime limit, subject to mandatory overtime premiums and limited statutory exceptions. 4.4 Termination of Employment Contracts Korea is not an employment-at-will jurisdiction. Under the Labour Standards Act, an employer may not dis - miss, suspend, transfer, reduce wages or otherwise discipline an employee without just cause. Employer- initiated termination is therefore subject to substantive and procedural requirements. Employment may terminate by expiry of a fixed-term contract, retirement, resignation, mutual agreement or dismissal. A unilateral termination generally con - stitutes a dismissal and must be supported by just cause, assessed by reference to whether continued employment would be socially unreasonable in the circumstances. Dismissal must comply with statutory procedures. The employer must provide written notice stating the reason and effective date of dismissal; otherwise, the dismissal is generally invalid. In addition, the employer must give at least 30 days’ notice or 30 days’ ordinary wages in lieu, unless a statutory exception applies, such as employment of less than three months or seri - ous wilful misconduct. Employees are also protected during specified peri - ods, including leave for work-related injury or illness and maternity leave, as well as the applicable post- leave protection periods. An unfair dismissal is generally invalid. Employees may seek relief before the Labour Relations Com - mission, generally within three months of dismissal or pursue court proceedings. Remedies include rein - statement, back pay and, exceptionally, tort damages. Upon termination, employers must settle unpaid wages and other statutory payments, generally within 14 days unless otherwise agreed. Employees with at least one year of continuous service are generally enti - tled to statutory severance or retirement benefits of at least 30 days’ average wages for each year of service.
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