In this Global Solution flash briefing, Jean Kim discusses two key employment law updates impacting employers in South Korea.

Our Beyond Borders podcast series is designed to help you manage your international workforce and navigate the quirks of international employment law.

In July 2016, the Daejeon District Court sentenced a former CEO, who was charged with unfair labor practices, to 10 months' imprisonment and ordered him arrested immediately...

With fertility rates among the lowest in the world, South Korea looks to jumpstart more births by boosting paid parental leave benefits and childcare entitlements.

A South Korean Supreme Court ruling requiring certain bonuses and other non-fixed wages to be included when calculating overtime pay, severance and other benefits may lead to spikes in employer costs.

The Busan District Court (Civil Division) recently issued a ruling upholding the validity of amendments to an employer’s rules of employment that were adverse to employees, notwithstanding the absence of a formal “group meeting” of all affected employees

Furthering the Korean government's policy response to an aging society and low birthrate, the 2014 amendment to the Labor Standards Act permitting pregnant employees at critical points in their pregnancy . . .

South Korea's so-called ‘Yellow Envelope Act' has been passed, strengthening protections for union activities within an already supportive legal framework. We summarise the key provisions and takeaways for employers.

For many years, Korean employers have had the option to impose changes to work rules without obtaining their workers' consent, where those changes are in line with social norms.

If he implements his campaign promises, the election last month of President Moon Jae-In will lead to some significant labour law changes in South Korea.

The South Korean Supreme Court recently ruled that bonus payment can be conditioned on the employee...

On December 27, 2018 the Korean National Assembly addressed workplace bullying and harassment in partial amendments to the Labor Standards Act (the "LSA") and the Industrial Accident Compensation

Recent regulatory changes and a Korean Supreme Court decision have made childcare leave and flexible working hours more attractive and more available to employees with young children.

Under the DWPA, both a worker-dispatch agency and the company using its workers are prohibited from subjecting the dispatched workers to discriminatory treatment.

"You're fired!" - a phrase popularized by Donald Trump on the television show The Apprentice - is hardly imaginable in Korea's tightly regulated labor market.

On 29 January 2026, the Supreme Court issued two long-awaited rulings clarifying how performance bonuses are to be treated when determining an employee's ‘average wage'.

In February 2016, the Supreme Court set aside a lower-court decision that had overturned the conversion of a branch of an industrial union into an independent enterprise union

The Ministry of Employment and Labour (MOEL) has issued a proposed amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the amended Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act (TULRAA)...

A number of significant employment law changes are imminent in South Korea. They include a new minimum wage, new penalties for workplace harassment and remedies for gender discrimination...

Korea's so-called ‘Yellow Envelope Act' is expected to be enacted imminently. It is set to introduce significant changes to trade union legislation in Korea. We take a look at the key provisions...