It is hourly rate times hours worked, so why is the amount different?

The multiplication is not wrong; it simply leaves out two things. One sits above it and one sits below it. Above is weekly holiday pay, a Korean entitlement that pays you for a day you did not work once certain conditions are met, so it pushes the figure up. Below are deductions taken as tax or insurance contributions, which pull the figure down. That is why the amount landing in your account can be either larger or smaller than the plain multiplication. To see which way yours went, open your payslip and read the earnings lines and the deduction lines as two separate blocks.

What is the 3.3% being taken off?

3.3% is the withholding rate applied to business income in Korea: 3% income tax plus local income tax of 0.3%, which is 10% of that income tax. So it is tax, not an insurance contribution, and it signals that the money was paid as business income rather than employment income. Paid this way there are no social insurance deductions, so the cash in hand looks larger, but you build no employment insurance record and lose some of the protections that come with worker status. If your actual working pattern looks like employment yet you are being paid as business income, check with the Ministry of Employment and Labor helpline on 1350.

Do part-timers join the four social insurance schemes?

Being called a part-timer does not by itself decide enrolment. In Korea, the national pension, health insurance, employment insurance and industrial accident insurance each set their own enrolment criteria under separate statutes, and coverage varies with contractual hours, working pattern and the employer's circumstances. That is why two people on the same hourly rate working the same hours can see completely different deduction lines. The most reliable way to know where you are enrolled is to read the deduction section of your payslip and check your record directly with each agency: the National Pension Service, the National Health Insurance Service and the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service.

I never signed an employment contract. Can I still be paid?

Drawing up an employment contract and handing a copy to the worker is the employer's duty, and the absence of one does not erase wages you have already earned. What it does do is slow everything down, because with no document fixing your contractual hours, the very basis for judging weekly holiday pay becomes contested. Keeping records that show your actual work helps: clock-in and clock-out logs, shift rosters, and the deposit history for your pay. If you suspect wages are being withheld, contact the Ministry of Employment and Labor helpline on 1350 or your local labour office.

Part-time pay: why the bank number differs

Hand-drawn illustration of a slip of paper showing an hourly rate on one side of a scale and a bankbook on the other, with the bankbook side floating lighter

Part-time pay looks simple right up until you reach for a calculator. Hourly rate, times hours in a shift, times shifts in the month, and you are done. Then the first payday arrives, you open your banking app, and that number is almost never the one sitting there.

Whether it came out higher or lower, there is a reason, and the reasons repeat. Part-time pay in Korea goes off-script at a small number of predictable points, and payroll questions arrive in the same order every time. So this is that order, one answer at a time.

Six minutes gets you

The three places a payslip can diverge from your own arithmetic.
The conditions for weekly holiday pay and how to apply the formula yourself.
A clear line between 3.3% withholding and social insurance, which are unrelated things.

Hand-drawn illustration of an envelope in the centre with one thick arrow pointing down into it from above and another arrow pointing up out of it, running in opposite directions — Some items get added on top of the multiplication, and others come off the bottom.

The multiplication is fine. Weekly holiday pay above it and deductions below it simply live outside the sum.

Q. It is rate times hours, so why is my part-time pay different?

The arithmetic itself is rarely the problem. What the arithmetic cannot see is a pair of items sitting on either side of it. Weekly holiday pay is added above, and deductions are taken below.

Because the two pull in opposite directions, the result does not always tilt the same way. With weekly holiday pay and no deductions, you end up above the multiplication; with deductions and no weekly holiday pay, below it.

That is why two people on the same rate working the same hours can see very different part-time pay.

So the order in which you check is fixed too. Open your payslip and split it into two blocks, earnings and deductions, and the side your case diverged on becomes obvious at a glance.

Q. When does weekly holiday pay apply?

Weekly holiday pay is a Korean entitlement: wages for a day you did not work. It flows from the paid holiday set out in the Labor Standards Act, so it only arises in a week where the conditions were met.

There are three of them. Contractual working hours of 15 or more a week, full attendance on that week's scheduled days, and further work scheduled for the following week. Drop any one and that week produces nothing.

The hours that count are not the hours you actually worked but the hours your employment contract agreed to. Picking up a few extra hours during a busy week does not automatically carry you over the 15-hour line.

For a condition-by-condition breakdown with worked examples, see our guide to the three conditions.

Hand-drawn illustration of a thick horizontal threshold line with a short bar stopping below it beside a taller bar crossing above it, and a single coin resting only on top of the bar that crossed — Same hourly rate, but crossing the line or not is what decides whether the item attaches.

To get the amount, multiply your hourly rate by (contractual weekly hours ÷ 40) × 8 hours, and the hours recognised are capped at 8 hours. Work beyond a 40-hour week and the holiday component still stops at one day's worth.

Worked example

20 hrs/week × 10,320 won → 41,280 won

(20 ÷ 40) × 8 = 4 hours of holiday time, and applying the 2026 minimum wage of 10,320 won gives 41,280 won. A 30-hour week produces 6 hours, and a 40-hour week reaches the 8-hour cap.

15 hrs/week

3 holiday hrs

20 hrs/week

4 holiday hrs

30 hrs/week

6 holiday hrs

40 hrs/week

8 holiday hrs (cap)

Holiday hours = (contractual weekly hours ÷ 40) × 8, capped at 8

Q. What is the 3.3% coming off my part-time pay?

3.3% is the withholding rate for business income in Korea. It is 3% income tax plus a local income tax of 0.3%, which is 10% of that income tax. The first thing to register is that this is tax, not an insurance contribution.

But the number tells you more than a rate. Being paid under 3.3% means the money was treated as business income rather than employment income. In other words, it is a signal that your contract type went one way rather than the other.

When 3.3% is the only deduction, the cash in hand does look bigger. The trade-off is that no employment insurance record builds up, and you may take on the obligation to file your own year-end income tax return the following May.

If you report at set hours, take instructions and work under supervision, yet are paid as business income, it is worth a second look.

What decides contract type is the reality of the working relationship rather than the label on the paperwork. When that is unclear, the Ministry of Employment and Labor helpline on 1350 is the accurate place to ask.

Aspect	3.3% withholding	Treated as employment income
Nature	Tax (3% income tax + 0.3% local income tax)	Income tax withheld per the simplified tax table
Premise	Paid as business income	Paid as a worker
Insurance deductions	None	Social insurance where enrolment criteria are met
Year-end	File a tax return the following May	Year-end tax settlement by the employer

Q. Do part-timers pay social insurance too?

The label "part-timer" does not settle enrolment on its own. In Korea, the national pension, health insurance, employment insurance and industrial accident insurance each set their criteria under separate statutes.

Because the four are habitually spoken of as one bundle, it is easy to assume a single rule governs them. In practice, enrolment turns on contractual hours, working pattern and the employer's circumstances.

So two people on the same rate working the same hours can see different deductions coming out of their part-time pay. Rather than memorising rates, it is faster to read what is actually printed on your own payslip.

Hand-drawn illustration of a single payslip divided by a vertical line down the middle, with rows marked by plus signs on the left and rows marked by minus signs on the right — Read the payslip as two blocks, earnings and deductions, and the divergence surfaces.

The payslip is not the only place to look, either. You can check your enrolment history directly with the National Pension Service, the National Health Insurance Service and the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service.

That catches both the case where a scheme is missing from your payslip but present in the agency records, and the reverse.

If a deduction line carries an unfamiliar name, or the amount swings sharply from month to month, ask your employer how it was calculated. Issuing a payslip is the employer's duty, so asking for the basis of each line is a reasonable request.

Q. So what is my part-time pay, exactly?

Everything above sorts the question into branches; the actual figure needs your own numbers in it. Put your hourly rate, daily hours and days per week into the part-time payroll calculator and you get an amount with weekly holiday pay included.

From there, switch the deduction method between social insurance and 3.3% to compare the two take-home figures side by side.

If it is only the holiday component you want, the weekly holiday pay calculator is quicker. Enter weekly hours and an hourly rate and it returns the amount, showing zero when you are under 15 hours. Both are free and run entirely in the browser.

Before signing: first, whether contractual weekly hours sit above or below 15
First payday: whether the earnings block has a weekly holiday pay line
If 3.3% is the only deduction: check whether you were paid as business income
Short-term or very short hours: cross-check deductions against agency records

References

Labor Standards Act Article 55 (Holidays), Article 18 (Working Conditions of Part-Time Workers), Article 17 (Statement of Working Conditions). Korean Law Information Center
Income Tax Act Article 129 (Withholding Tax Rates) and Local Tax Act Article 103-13 (Special Collection).
Ministry of Employment and Labor notice of the 2026 minimum wage: 10,320 won per hour.
Ministry of Employment and Labor customer helpline (1350), guidance on working conditions.

This article is for general information about Korean rules and is not legal or tax advice. Whether weekly holiday pay arises, how a contract type is judged, and the enrolment criteria and rates for the four social insurance schemes all depend on the employment contract, the actual working pattern and the employer's circumstances, so check specific cases with your employer, the relevant agencies, the Ministry of Employment and Labor helpline on 1350, or a certified labour attorney or tax accountant. Laws and figures cited here are current as of August 2026.

Frequently asked questions

: The multiplication is not wrong; it simply leaves out two things. One sits above it and one sits below it. Above is weekly holiday pay, a Korean entitlement that pays you for a day you did not work once certain conditions are met, so it pushes the figure up. Below are deductions taken as tax or insurance contributions, which pull the figure down. That is why the amount landing in your account can be either larger or smaller than the plain multiplication. To see which way yours went, open your payslip and read the earnings lines and the deduction lines as two separate blocks.
: Under Korea's Labor Standards Act, the rule is that it arises when your contractual working hours are 15 or more a week, you worked every scheduled day that week without absence, and further work is scheduled for the following week. The hours recognised are contractual weekly hours divided by 40, multiplied by 8, capped at 8 hours. At 20 hours a week that is 4 hours, and applying the 2026 minimum wage of 10,320 won gives 41,280 won. The figure that counts is not the hours you actually worked but the contractual hours agreed in your employment contract, which is the part people most often get wrong.
: 3.3% is the withholding rate applied to business income in Korea: 3% income tax plus local income tax of 0.3%, which is 10% of that income tax. So it is tax, not an insurance contribution, and it signals that the money was paid as business income rather than employment income. Paid this way there are no social insurance deductions, so the cash in hand looks larger, but you build no employment insurance record and lose some of the protections that come with worker status. If your actual working pattern looks like employment yet you are being paid as business income, check with the Ministry of Employment and Labor helpline on 1350.
: Being called a part-timer does not by itself decide enrolment. In Korea, the national pension, health insurance, employment insurance and industrial accident insurance each set their own enrolment criteria under separate statutes, and coverage varies with contractual hours, working pattern and the employer's circumstances. That is why two people on the same hourly rate working the same hours can see completely different deduction lines. The most reliable way to know where you are enrolled is to read the deduction section of your payslip and check your record directly with each agency: the National Pension Service, the National Health Insurance Service and the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service.
: Drawing up an employment contract and handing a copy to the worker is the employer's duty, and the absence of one does not erase wages you have already earned. What it does do is slow everything down, because with no document fixing your contractual hours, the very basis for judging weekly holiday pay becomes contested. Keeping records that show your actual work helps: clock-in and clock-out logs, shift rosters, and the deposit history for your pay. If you suspect wages are being withheld, contact the Ministry of Employment and Labor helpline on 1350 or your local labour office.

Weekly Holiday Pay - Do I Qualify?Weekly holiday pay needs all three conditions: 15 hours, full attendance, continuing work. Lateness is not absence, and 14.9-hour contracts exist for a reason.Where Did My Bonus Go? Bonus Net Pay ExplainedBonus net pay looks thin not because a special tax rate exists, but because Korean payroll withholds first and settles later. The structure, plus objections.Hit the 10MB Wall - PDF Compression, Three FailuresAn upload limit rejected one document three times. Why PDF compression works on some files and does nothing to others, and the order that got it accepted.

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