
Lucas Botzen
Founder & Managing Director
Last updated:
September 21, 2025
What is an Employer of Record in South-Korea?
View our Employer of Record servicesAn Employer of Record (EOR) in South Korea is a company that legally hires employees on your behalf. This means you can build a team in South Korea without setting up a local entity. The EOR handles all the legal and HR work, like payroll, taxes, benefits, and employment contracts, making sure everything follows South Korean labor laws. You manage your team's day to day work, while the EOR takes care of the employment paperwork. For companies looking to hire in South Korea, an EOR provider like Rivermate can simplify the process.
How an Employer of Record (EOR) Works in South-Korea
Using an EOR to hire in South Korea is a straightforward process. Here is a simple breakdown of the steps:
- You Find Your Candidate. You identify the person you want to hire in South Korea.
- The EOR Hires Them. The EOR legally hires the employee under their own local business entity. They create a compliant employment contract that meets all South Korean labor laws.
- Onboarding. The EOR manages the onboarding process, collecting all necessary documents and ensuring the employee is registered for social security and other required programs.
- Payroll and Benefits. The EOR handles all payroll, including taxes and social contributions. They also manage employee benefits, making sure they meet local standards.
- Ongoing HR Support. The EOR provides continuous HR support, managing any issues that come up and making sure your company stays compliant with changing labor laws.
- You Manage Your Team. You have full control over your employee's daily tasks and projects. The EOR is the legal employer, but you direct their work.
Benefits of Using an EOR for Hiring in South-Korea
Using an EOR to hire in South Korea gives you a significant advantage. It allows you to enter the market and build a team much faster than setting up your own company, which can take months. An EOR handles the complexities of South Korean labor law, so you don't have to worry about compliance. This saves you time and money, and lets you focus on your business goals.
Here are some of the key benefits:
- Faster Market Entry. You can hire employees and start operating in South Korea in a fraction of the time it would take to register a local company.
- Reduced Costs. Avoid the high costs associated with setting up a legal entity, such as legal fees and office space.
- Compliance with Local Laws. An EOR ensures that you are fully compliant with South Korea's complex employment regulations, reducing your legal risks.
- Access to Top Talent. Quickly hire the best talent in South Korea without being slowed down by administrative hurdles.
- Focus on Your Business. With the EOR handling HR and administrative tasks, you can concentrate on growing your business and managing your team.
Responsibilities of an Employer of Record
As an Employer of Record in South-Korea, Rivermate is responsible for:
- Creating and managing the employment contracts
- Running the monthly payroll
- Providing local and global benefits
- Ensuring 100% local compliance
- Providing local HR support
Responsibilities of the company that hires the employee
As the company that hires the employee through the Employer of Record, you are responsible for:
- Day-to-day management of the employee
- Work assignments
- Performance management
- Training and development
Costs of using an Employer of Record in South-Korea
Rivermate's transparent pricing model eliminates complexity with a single, competitive monthly fee per employee. Unlike traditional PEO providers, our pricing in South-Korea includes comprehensive HR support, benefits administration, compliance management, and access to our proprietary dashboard for real-time workforce analytics. No hidden costs, no setup fees—just straightforward pricing that scales with your business needs while ensuring full legal compliance in South-Korea.
Employ top talent in South-Korea through our Employer of Record service
Book a call with our EOR experts to learn more about how we can help you in South-Korea







Book a call with our EOR experts to learn more about how we can help you in South-Korea.
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Hiring in South-Korea
Hiring in South Korea is a mix of respecting tradition and following modern labor laws. Building relationships is key. Companies often find new hires through personal networks and university recruiting events. The country's workforce is highly educated and a significant player in industries like electronics, cars, and shipbuilding. South Korea's Labor Standards Act (LSA) is the main law governing employment. It covers everything from employment contracts to working hours and termination.
Employment contracts & must-have clauses
When you hire an employee in South Korea, you need a written employment contract. It’s best practice to provide this in Korean and to state salary information in Korean won. The contract should be clear and cover all the important details of the job.
Here are the essential clauses to include:
- Job description: Clearly define the employee's role and responsibilities.
- Salary and compensation: Detail the base salary, any allowances, and how it will be paid.
- Working hours: Specify the daily and weekly work schedule.
- Paid leave: Outline the annual leave entitlement.
- Termination: Explain the notice period and conditions for ending the employment.
There are two main types of employment contracts in South Korea:
Contract Type | Description |
---|---|
Regular (indefinite) | For standard, long-term employment with no end date. |
Fixed-term | For a specific period or project, up to a maximum of two years. |
Probation periods
You can include a probation period in the employment contract. This is typically for three months. During this time, you can assess the employee's performance. If you need to terminate the employment during the probation period, you still need a valid reason, but the requirements are less strict than for a regular employee.
Working hours & overtime
The standard workweek in South Korea is 40 hours, usually eight hours a day, five days a week. The total weekly hours, including overtime, cannot exceed 52 hours.
- Standard hours: 40 hours per week.
- Overtime: Any work beyond the standard 8-hour day or 40-hour week is considered overtime.
- Overtime pay: Overtime work must be paid at a rate of at least 150% of the employee's regular hourly wage.
The government has discussed changes to allow for more flexible workweeks, but the 52-hour cap remains a key regulation.
Public & regional holidays
South Korea has several public holidays. While only Labor Day (May 1st) is a mandatory paid holiday by law, most companies provide paid time off for all public holidays.
Here are some of the major public holidays:
- New Year's Day
- Seollal (Lunar New Year)
- Independence Movement Day
- Children's Day
- Buddha's Birthday
- Memorial Day
- Liberation Day
- Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)
- National Foundation Day
- Hangeul Day
- Christmas Day
Hiring contractors in South Korea
Hiring independent contractors is becoming more common in South Korea, especially in the IT sector. This can offer flexibility and reduce some of the administrative tasks and costs associated with full-time employees.
However, you need to be careful about worker classification. If a contractor is treated like an employee, they could be legally reclassified as one. This is known as misclassification and can lead to significant risks for your business, including:
- Back pay for overtime and benefits: You could be liable for unpaid overtime, severance pay, and other benefits the worker would have received as an employee.
- Unpaid social security contributions: You may have to pay backdated social security contributions.
- Fines and penalties: The authorities can impose fines for misclassification.
An Employer of Record (EOR) can help you avoid these risks. An EOR legally employs the worker on your behalf, ensuring compliance with all local labor laws. This means the EOR handles payroll, taxes, benefits, and all the legal responsibilities of an employer. By using an EOR, you can work with talent in South Korea without the risk of misclassifying them as independent contractors.
Compensation and Payroll in South-Korea
In South Korea, handling compensation and payroll means following a clear set of rules. You must pay your employees monthly and provide a payslip that details all deductions like taxes and social security. All employment contracts and pay should be in the local currency, the South Korean Won (KRW).
Payroll cycles & wage structure
The payroll cycle in South Korea is typically monthly, with payments made on a fixed day each month. There is no legal requirement for a 13th-month bonus payment.
For new hires, you can have a probation period of up to three months. During this time, you can pay 90% of the minimum wage if the employment contract is for at least one year.
A key part of compensation is severance pay, which is mandatory for employees who have worked for you for at least one year. You must provide a minimum of one month's salary for each year of service.
Overtime & minimums
The standard workweek is 40 hours, with a maximum of 8 hours per day. You can have up to 12 hours of overtime per week. You must pay employees at least 150% of their regular wage for overtime hours. Work performed late at night, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., requires a higher premium.
The minimum wage in South Korea is set annually. For 2024, the minimum wage is KRW 9,860 per hour.
Employer taxes and contributions
As an employer, you are responsible for contributing to several social security funds. These contributions are a percentage of an employee's salary.
Contribution | Employer Rate | Notes |
---|---|---|
National Pension | 4.5% | Capped at a monthly income of KRW 5,240,000. |
National Health Insurance | 3.924% | Capped at a monthly contribution of KRW 8,203,680. |
Employment Insurance | 1.05% - 1.65% | Rate varies by industry. |
Worker Accident Compensation Insurance | 0.70% - 18.60% | Rate depends on the type of business. |
Employee taxes and deductions
Employees also contribute to social security and pay income tax. You deduct these from their monthly salary.
Deduction | Employee Rate | Notes |
---|---|---|
National Pension | 4.5% | Capped at a monthly income of KRW 6,370,000. |
National Health Insurance | 3.9245% | Capped at a monthly contribution of KRW 8,481,420. |
Employment Insurance | 0.80% | |
Income Tax | 6% - 45% | Progressive rates based on income level. |
How an Employer of Record, like Rivermate can help with payroll taxes and compliance in South-Korea
An Employer of Record (EOR) manages monthly payroll calculations, employer contributions, and tax filings in-country on your behalf. Rivermate handles registrations, payslips, statutory reporting, and remittances to authorities so you stay compliant with local rules and deadlines—without setting up a local entity. Our specialists monitor regulatory changes and ensure correct rates, thresholds, and caps are applied to every payroll cycle.
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Benefits and Leave in South-Korea
In South Korea, benefits and leave are a serious part of the work culture. The government sets clear minimums for employers to follow. This ensures you provide fair and competitive support for your team. Think of these requirements as the foundation for building a great place to work.
Statutory leave
South Korean law outlines several types of mandatory leave.
- Annual Leave: Employees who have worked for a full year receive 15 days of paid leave. For every two additional years of service, they get one extra day, up to a maximum of 25 days. Employees with less than a year of service earn one day of paid leave for each month they work.
- Maternity Leave: Female employees are entitled to 90 days of maternity leave. This increases to 120 days for multiple births. The employer pays for the first 60 days, and the government's employment insurance covers the rest.
- Paternity Leave: Male employees get 10 days of paid paternity leave.
- Parental Leave: Employees with a child under eight years old can request up to one year of parental leave.
- Family Care Leave: You can take up to 90 days of unpaid leave to care for a family member, used in 30-day increments. A shorter, 10-day option is also available.
- Fertility Treatment Leave: Employees can take three days of leave per year for fertility treatments, with the first day being paid.
Public holidays & regional holidays
Companies with five or more employees must provide paid time off for public holidays.
Date | Holiday |
---|---|
January 1 | New Year's Day |
January 28-30 | Seollal (Lunar New Year) |
March 1 | Independence Movement Day |
May 1 | Labor Day |
May 5 | Children's Day |
May 6 | Buddha's Birthday |
June 6 | Memorial Day |
August 15 | Liberation Day |
October 3 | National Foundation Day |
October 5-7 | Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) |
October 9 | Hangeul Proclamation Day |
December 25 | Christmas Day |
Typical supplemental benefits
To attract and keep top talent, many companies offer more than the legal minimum.
Statutory Benefits | Non-Statutory Benefits |
---|---|
National Pension | Private Medical Insurance |
National Health Insurance | Life Insurance |
Employment Insurance | Enhanced leave pay |
Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance | Meal and transport allowances |
Severance Pay | Housing allowances |
Paid Annual Leave | Performance-based bonuses |
Public Holidays | Company social events |
Maternity/Paternity/Parental Leave | Flexible work schedules |
How an EOR can help with setting up benefits
Setting up and managing employee benefits in a new country is complex. An Employer of Record (EOR) simplifies this process.
An EOR acts as the legal employer for your team in South Korea. This means they handle all the administrative and legal tasks related to employment. They ensure your benefits packages comply with local laws, from paid leave to insurance contributions.
Using an EOR helps you:
- Stay Compliant: An EOR keeps up with South Korea's changing labor laws, so you don't have to. They make sure your employment contracts and benefits are always in line with current regulations.
- Save Time: You avoid the lengthy process of setting up a local legal entity. An EOR can get your team operational in a fraction of the time.
- Attract Talent: An EOR can help you create competitive benefits packages that meet local expectations. This makes your company more attractive to skilled professionals.
- Reduce Risk: The EOR takes on the responsibility for compliance, which minimizes your risk of legal issues or penalties.
How an Employer of Record, like Rivermate can help with local benefits in South-Korea
Rivermate provides compliant, locally competitive benefits—such as health insurance, pension, and statutory coverages—integrated into one EOR platform. We administer enrollments, manage renewals, and ensure contributions and withholdings meet country requirements so your team receives the right benefits without added overhead.
Termination and Offboarding in South-Korea
Let's walk through what terminating and offboarding an employee in South Korea involves. The process is stricter than in many other countries. South Korean law strongly protects employees, so you can't dismiss someone without a "just cause." This means you need a significant, justifiable reason directly related to the employee's conduct or a pressing business need. Simply deciding to let someone go is not an option. You must follow specific legal procedures to ensure the termination is lawful.
Notice Periods
When terminating an employee, you must provide at least 30 days' written notice. This notice should clearly state the reasons for the termination and the final date of employment.
There are a few situations where this 30-day notice is not required:
- The employee has worked for less than three months.
- The employee has committed a serious offense, like causing significant damage to the company.
If you prefer, you can choose to pay the employee 30 days of their regular wages instead of having them work the notice period. This payment is separate from any severance pay.
Severance Pay
Employees who have worked for you for at least one year are entitled to severance pay. The law requires you to provide this payment to eligible employees when they leave your company.
Here’s how it generally works:
- Calculation: The typical severance amount is equivalent to one month's average wages for every year the employee worked for you.
- Payment Deadline: You must pay all final wages and severance within 14 days of the employee's last day.
How Rivermate Handles Compliant Exits
At Rivermate, we manage the entire offboarding process to ensure you remain compliant with South Korean labor laws. We take the complexity off your hands.
Here is how we handle a typical exit:
- Consultation: First, we talk with you to understand the situation and confirm there is a "just cause" for termination.
- Documentation: We prepare all necessary written documents, including the termination notice with a clear explanation for the dismissal.
- Notice and Payment: We ensure the employee receives the legally required 30-day notice or the equivalent payment in lieu of notice.
- Final Payments: We calculate and process all final payments, including outstanding wages, unused leave, and the correct severance amount. We make sure these are paid within the legal 14-day timeframe.
- Clear Communication: We maintain clear and direct communication with you and the employee throughout the process to prevent misunderstandings.
Our goal is to make the process as smooth and clear as possible, protecting you from legal risks and ensuring your former employee is treated fairly according to the law.
Visa and work permits in South-Korea
Navigating South Korea's visa and work permit system is essential for any company looking to hire talent in the country. To legally employ someone in South Korea, they need the correct visa that permits work. The government links the right to work directly to a person's visa status and their employer. This means foreign nationals can only perform work that their visa allows and at the specific workplace approved by immigration. For any long-term employment, a proper work visa is necessary.
Employment visas & sponsorship realities
An Employer of Record (EOR) can sponsor work visas for your employees in South Korea, but there are practical limits. The EOR must be a registered legal entity in the country to sponsor foreign workers. This is the most common path for companies hiring full-time international talent.
Here are some key points about employment visas:
- E-7 Visa: This is a common visa for foreign nationals with special abilities and is designed for specific occupations that require specialized skills.
- Other E-series visas: South Korea offers a range of employment visas for different professions, such as professors (E-1), foreign language instructors (E-2), and researchers (E-3).
- Sponsorship is mandatory: For most long-term work visas, employer sponsorship is a requirement. Independent contractors or freelancers are not eligible for these types of visas.
- Location-specific: Work permits are often tied to a specific work location. If an employee needs to move to a different office or change employers, they may need to get approval from immigration authorities.
An EOR simplifies the process by managing the visa application, documentation, and ensuring compliance with South Korea's labor laws. This allows you to onboard talent without setting up your own local entity.
Business travel compliance
For short-term business trips, you need to follow a different set of rules. These visits are for activities like meetings, market research, or contract negotiations, not for paid work.
Here’s what you need to know for short-term visits:
- Visa-free travel: Many nationalities can enter South Korea for up to 90 days for business or tourism without a visa.
- Korea Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA): While typically required for visa-free entry, there is a temporary exemption for citizens of many countries, including the U.S., through December 31, 2025.
- C-3-4 Business Visitor Visa: For those not eligible for visa-free entry, the C-3-4 visa is for short-term business activities. It is important to note that this visa does not permit for-profit work.
- C-4 Short-Term Employment Visa: If the trip involves temporary paid work for up to 90 days, the C-4 visa is the appropriate choice.
Always check the latest requirements before traveling, as immigration rules can change. For any stay longer than 90 days, a visa is required.
How an Employer of Record, like Rivermate can help with work permits in South-Korea
Navigating work permits can be complex and time‑sensitive. Rivermate coordinates the entire process end‑to‑end: determining the right visa category, preparing employer and employee documentation, liaising with local authorities, and ensuring full compliance with country‑specific rules. Our in‑country experts accelerate timelines, minimize refusals, and keep you updated on each milestone so your hire can start on time—legally and confidently.
Frequently asked questions about EOR in South-Korea
About the author

Lucas Botzen
Lucas Botzen is the founder of Rivermate, a global HR platform specializing in international payroll, compliance, and benefits management for remote companies. He previously co-founded and successfully exited Boloo, scaling it to over €2 million in annual revenue. Lucas is passionate about technology, automation, and remote work, advocating for innovative digital solutions that streamline global employment.