Fiscal year annual leave calculator
한국어Enter your start date. You get leave under the fiscal year method and the start date method side by side, and which one applies when you leave.
For workers covered by the Korean Labor Standards Act and the HR staff who run their leave. The basis is the Ministry of Employment and Labor's own answers. Nothing you type leaves this screen.
Fill in both to use the Ministry formula exactly. Leave them blank and calendar days are used as an estimate.
What the Ministry said
The Labor Standards Act never mentions a fiscal year. Leave is counted from your start date by default.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor says an employer may align everyone to the fiscal year through its work rules. The condition is that no worker ends up worse off.
If you joined partway through a year, you get leave on the next 1 January in proportion to your service that year. After that, leave is granted each fiscal year.
The first year share is 15 days times days attended divided by scheduled working days in the year.
Monthly leave in your first year (Article 60(2)) is the same under both methods. The Ministry's example lists 11 days of it under the fiscal year method too.
When you leave, the total leave under each method is compared. If the fiscal year total is lower, the shortfall is paid out as unused leave pay.
If the fiscal year total is higher, it stands. The exception is work rules that say leave is recounted from the start date on exit.
From the Ministry's answers, translated from Korean
An employer may, for ease of administration, set the fiscal year as the uniform reference date for all workers through a collective agreement or work rules.
The first year share is calculated as 15 days x days attended / scheduled working days in the year.
If at retirement the total leave falls short of leave counted from the start date, the shortfall must be paid as unused annual leave pay.
If the work rules say leave is recounted from the start date on exit, a single settlement on the start date basis is possible.
The Ministry's own example, run through this calculator
Someone who joined on 20 Sep 2020 (Sun) and left on 23 Jan 2022 (Sun). The Ministry did not know their attendance, so it used calendar days.
The answer put the first year share at 15 days times 103 divided by 365, about 4.2 days. Below are the results with the same two numbers.
Start date method
Total 26 days
| 20 Oct 2020 (Tue) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Nov 2020 (Fri) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Dec 2020 (Sun) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Jan 2021 (Wed) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Feb 2021 (Sat) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Mar 2021 (Sat) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Apr 2021 (Tue) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 May 2021 (Thu) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Jun 2021 (Sun) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Jul 2021 (Tue) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Aug 2021 (Fri) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Sep 2021 (Mon) | 15 days | Article 60(1) and (4), each completed year, extra days from year three |
Fiscal year method (1 January)
Total about 30.23 days
| 20 Oct 2020 (Tue) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Nov 2020 (Fri) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Dec 2020 (Sun) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 1 Jan 2021 (Fri) | about 4.23 days | First year, prorated |
| 20 Jan 2021 (Wed) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Feb 2021 (Sat) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Mar 2021 (Sat) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Apr 2021 (Tue) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 May 2021 (Thu) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Jun 2021 (Sun) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Jul 2021 (Tue) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 20 Aug 2021 (Fri) | 1 day | Article 60(2), one day per month of full attendance |
| 1 Jan 2022 (Sat) | 15 days | Fiscal year grant (fifteen days) |
First year share: 15 days times 103 divided by 365, about 4.23 days.
Calculated with the attendance and scheduled days you entered.
The Ministry's answers do not say whether to round, round up or convert fractions to hours. Employers differ. This page shows two decimal places.
Settling up when you leave
The fiscal year method gives about 4.23 days more. The Ministry says the fiscal year count stands unless the work rules say leave is recounted from the start date on exit. If they do, the start date count can be used.
Interpretation 근로기준과-5802, 2009.12.31., Interpretation 임금근로시간정책팀-489, 2008.02.28.
We do not say your employer got it wrong. This page repeats the Ministry's method, nothing more. For a dispute, call the Ministry's counselling centre on 1350.
What the Ministry did not say
- How to handle the fraction in the prorated share. Employers differ.
- From which 1 January the extra days for 3 or more years are added under the fiscal year method. Your work rules decide.
- When leave granted on the fiscal year basis expires. The example does not say, so we do not either. The statutory expiry is Article 60(7).
- We could not open the full text of the interpretations themselves. The numbers are as the Ministry cites them in its answers.
Sources
- Ministry of Employment and Labor counselling answer: fiscal year alignment and settlement on leaving (Korean) (Checked 2026-09-24)
- Ministry counselling answer: example of a September 2020 hire (Korean) (Checked 2026-09-24)
- Ministry counselling answer: first year proration example (Korean) (Checked 2026-09-24)
- Ministry counselling answer: recount clause in work rules (Korean) (Checked 2026-09-24)
- Korean Law Information Center, Labor Standards Act Article 60 Annual paid leave (Checked 2026-09-07)