How Overtime, Night and Holiday Pay Are Calculated
Finding your ordinary hourly wage
Ordinary wage covers pay agreed to be given regularly and uniformly in return for contracted working hours (base salary, position allowance, etc.). A third requirement — “fixedness” — used to exclude items like bonuses conditioned on still being employed, but the Supreme Court’s en banc ruling of December 2024 abolished it (2020Da247190 and others). A varying amount or an employment condition alone no longer removes a payment from ordinary wage, so regular bonuses previously excluded may now count. Converting to an hourly rate typically divides monthly pay by the standard monthly hours (usually 209). For clarity, this guide uses the 2026 minimum hourly wage of 10,320 KRW as the ordinary hourly rate throughout. On a real payslip, which allowances count toward ordinary wage can vary by employer, so check your company’s pay rules for the exact figure.
Overtime premium — 1.5x the ordinary rate
Extended work (beyond statutory hours) is paid at an additional 50% premium. For a worker at 10,320 KRW/hr who works 4 hours of overtime in the evening, the unpremiumed amount would be 41,280 KRW, but the actual pay is hourly rate × 1.5 × 4 hours = 61,920 KRW.
Overlapping with night hours — premiums stack
| Component | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 4h overtime (premium incl.) | 10,320 × 1.5 × 4 | 61,920 원 |
| Extra night premium for 1h overlap | 10,320 × 0.5 × 1 | 5,160 원 |
| Total pay | 67,080 원 |
Hours that are simultaneously overtime and night work (22:00–06:00) get both premiums stacked. In this example, the overtime premium applies to all 4 hours (61,920 KRW), and the 1-hour overlap with night hours adds a further 5,160 KRW, for a total of 67,080 KRW.
How holiday work differs
Holiday work is paid at 50% extra for the first 8 hours and 100% extra beyond 8 hours (Labor Standards Act Art. 56(2), amended 2018-03-20). Try the overtime pay calculator to work out your own ordinary hourly rate and premiums.
Comprehensive wage agreements — the trap in "premiums included"
Some workplaces use a comprehensive wage agreement, bundling estimated overtime and night pay into a fixed salary. But this does not make the premiums disappear: ① if actual overtime or night hours exceed what was bundled in, the excess must still be paid separately, and ② unless the job genuinely makes tracking hours impractical, the agreement itself may be ruled invalid. Simply trusting that "premiums are included" without keeping your own time records can make later disputes hard to resolve — track your hours independently.
Workplaces under five employees are different
The §56 overtime/night/holiday premium rules do not apply to workplaces with fewer than five regular employees. This exempts only the extra premiums — ordinary wage for hours actually worked and minimum wage compliance still apply regardless of workplace size. Confirm specifics with the Ministry of Employment and Labor or a labor attorney; the statute is available at the Korea Law Information Center. See the take-home pay guide for how a full payslip comes together.