Korea Severance Pay Calculator for Foreign Workers

What this estimate includes

Under Korea's general statutory rule, a covered employee receives at least 30 days of average wage for each year of continuous service. This calculator uses the employment dates, wage items for the exact three-month period before retirement, the selected weekly-hours status, and an optional ordinary-daily-wage floor. It is designed for foreign and Korean workers alike, but it does not decide employee status or final eligibility.

How the calculation works

1. Counted service runs from the employment start date through the last working day, using inclusive calendar days.
2. The retirement date is treated as the day after the last working day. The average-wage period is the three calendar months immediately before that retirement date, and the denominator is the actual number of calendar days in that period.
3. Average daily wage is the entered three-month wage total, plus three twelfths of any eligible annual bonus entered, divided by the average-wage period days.
4. The general formula estimate is average daily wage multiplied by 30, multiplied by counted service days, then divided by 365. The final estimate is rounded down to whole Korean won.
5. If an ordinary daily wage is entered and is higher than the calculated average daily wage, the tool uses the higher ordinary wage as the statutory floor.

Assumptions

• The user is an employee covered by Korea's retirement-benefit law rather than an independent contractor whose legal status is unresolved.
• The three-month wage input contains gross wage items that belong in average wage, not take-home pay, reimbursements, or amounts excluded by law.
• The general eligibility check treats at least 365 counted service days and four-week average contracted hours of at least 15 per week as the basic thresholds.
• No prior interim severance settlement has reset part of the continuous-service period.

Example

A worker employed from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2025 has 731 counted service days. If gross wages for the final three-calendar-month period total KRW 9,000,000 and that period has 92 days, estimated average daily wage is about KRW 97,826. The formula estimate is approximately KRW 5,877,605 before retirement-income tax.

Limits and cautions

• The tool estimates gross severance before retirement-income tax and does not calculate a net bank payment.
• Maternity leave, parental leave, work-related medical leave, employer-attributable shutdown, industrial action, military duty, or approved leave inside the average-wage period may require excluded days and wages.
• If weekly contracted hours moved above and below 15, the eligible service period can require four-week block calculations that this simple tool does not perform.
• Whether a bonus, allowance, unused-leave payment, or other item belongs in average wage can depend on facts and payroll rules. Confirm disputed items with the Ministry of Employment and Labor or a qualified professional.
• A retirement pension plan, prior interim settlement, transfer of business, or disputed employee status can produce a different result.