Work safely: your part-time job toolkit
Check your pay against the minimum wage, sign the right contract, spot a bad offer before you start, and know who to call if you are not paid. Based on official sources only.
Pay calculator
Enter your hourly wage and the hours a week written in your contract.
Check that 15 hours a week fits your permit. Students may work 10 to 35 hours a week on weekdays, depending on the course and Korean level. Check my allowed hours →
Weekly holiday allowance (주휴수당) is paid when you are scheduled for 15 or more hours a week and work all your scheduled days. It is weekly hours ÷ 40 × 8 hours (at most 8) at your hourly wage.
Weekly pay with the holiday allowance × 4.345 weeks (365 ÷ 7 ÷ 12). Overtime, night and holiday premiums are not included.
- National PensionNot deducted
D-2 and D-4 holders are not covered by the National Pension.
- Employment insuranceNot deducted
Students (D-2) and trainees (D-4) are excluded from employment insurance.
- Industrial accident insuranceCovered, nothing deducted
It covers everyone who works for a business, foreign students included. The employer pays the whole premium.
- Health insuranceAbout 32,820 won a month
At 60 or more scheduled hours a month (yours: about 65 hours) you are enrolled through your workplace. You pay 3.595% for health and 0.4724% for long-term care (2026 rates), the employer pays the same, and this replaces your student premium.
- Income tax0 won
The National Tax Service withholding table takes no income tax from monthly pay under 1,060,000 won.
This is an estimate. Your pay slip shows the real amounts.
Sources (checked 2026-10-03)
- Ministry of Employment and Labor notice 2025-47 — 2026 minimum wage (10,320 won an hour)
- Ministry of Employment and Labor notice 2026-60 — 2027 minimum wage (5 Aug 2026, 10,700 won an hour)
- Minimum Wage Act art. 6 (effect of the minimum wage)
- Labor Standards Act art. 18(3) and art. 55 (weekly paid holiday; not under 15 hours a week)
- National Health Insurance Act art. 109 (foreign residents as workplace or regional subscribers)
- National Health Insurance Act Enforcement Decree art. 9 (under 60 hours a month) and art. 44 (7.19% rate)
- Long-Term Care Insurance Act Enforcement Decree art. 4 (0.9448% rate)
- National Pension Service — coverage by visa status (D-2 and D-4 not covered)
- Employment Insurance Act Enforcement Decree art. 3-3 (visa statuses covered; D-2 and D-4 are not among them)
- Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act art. 6 (every business with workers)
- Income Tax Act Enforcement Decree, table 2: wage withholding table (revised 27 Feb 2026; none under 1,060,000 won a month)
Sign a written contract, in a language you can read
Before your first day, your employer must give you a written contract that states:
- ✓the contract period
- ✓your working days, hours each day, and breaks
- ✓the hourly wage, what it is made of, and how and when it is paid
- ✓holidays and leave
- ✓the workplace and your duties
We link to the official pages instead of copying the files.
Before you start: permit rules
- 1Get your part-time work permit before your first shift, not after.
- 2A new employer means a new permit before you start there.
- 3Sign directly with the business named on its registration certificate, not through a staffing or dispatch agency.
- 4The permit is free. Nobody should charge you for it.
- 5Banned: construction sites, delivery and courier riding, designated driving, work through dispatch or brokers, work against public morals, and teaching conversation to children. Factory work needs TOPIK 4.
Ministry of Justice Stay Permit Manual (September 2026).
Warning signs in a job offer
If you see one of these, stop and check before you start.
Not paid, or something went wrong?
Keep your contract, pay slips, bank records, work schedule and messages. They are your evidence.
You can claim unpaid wages after you have quit. Wage claims expire after 3 years (Labor Standards Act, art. 49).
General information from official sources, checked 2026-10-03. It is not legal advice; your contract and the authorities' decisions come first.