You Worked Overtime, but Your Pay Stayed the Same? How to Calculate 2026 Overtime, Night, and Weekly Holiday Allowances

Hello, everyone!
This is Vijob. 👋

Have you had an experience like this while working in Korea?

“I kept working after my shift ended.”
“I worked past 10 p.m., but there was no extra pay.”
“I got my hourly wage, but I don’t know what weekly holiday pay is.”

Being a foreigner does not change the standards for allowances. If you are a worker under the Labor Standards Act, you may be covered by labor laws regardless of nationality, and the minimum wage also applies equally to foreign workers. 

Especially if you are working in Korea in 2026, be sure to check the minimum wage, overtime pay, night work pay, holiday work pay, and weekly holiday pay.

💵 First, check this! What is the 2026 minimum wage?

The 2026 minimum wage is 10,320 won per hour.

This is the official standard announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and it is the minimum wage applied regardless of industry.

⏰ If you worked more than 8 hours a day? Check overtime pay

In the usual case of a workplace with 5 or more regular employees, the basic standard for working hours is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, excluding break time. For overtime work beyond this, 50% or more of the ordinary wage must be added. 

Simply put, you can think of it as 1 hour of overtime = ordinary hourly wage × 1.5.

If you calculate it simply based on the 2026 minimum hourly wage of 10,320 won, 10,320 won × 1.5 = 15,480 won

In other words, at least about 15,480 won is calculated for 1 hour of overtime.

However, actual overtime pay is not always calculated simply as “monthly salary ÷ 209 hours.” Legally, it is calculated based on the ordinary wage, so the actual hourly rate may vary depending on the wage structure, such as base pay and fixed allowances. 

🌙 If you worked after 10 p.m.? Night work pay!

Under the Labor Standards Act, night work means work performed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.

If the workplace has 5 or more regular employees, 50% or more of the ordinary wage must be added for work done during this time. 

For example, if it is night work included within regular working hours, ordinary hourly wage 100% + night premium 50% may apply.

🌙 What if overtime and night work overlap?

This is the important point.

If you keep working after your regular shift ends and go past 10 p.m., overtime and night work may occur at the same time.

In this case, under the standard for workplaces with 5 or more employees,

Base 100% + Overtime 50% + Night 50% = Total 200%

It can be. The Labor Standards Act stipulates an additional 50% or more for overtime work and night work, respectively. 

If you simply calculate using the 2026 minimum hourly wage, 10,320 won × 2 = 20,640 won

In other words, if 1 hour is subject to both overtime and night work, it becomes around 20,640 won.

🏖️ If you worked on a day off? Check holiday work allowance too

If you worked on a statutory holiday at a workplace with 5 or more regular employees, a holiday work premium allowance may apply.

In other words, holiday work within 8 hours can be calculated as 1.5 times the ordinary wage, and the portion exceeding 8 hours as 2 times. 

However, Saturday does not automatically count as holiday work.

If Saturday is an unpaid day off at the company and you have already worked 40 hours in the week, Saturday work may be counted as overtime. The actual determination can vary depending on the employment contract, work rules, and work schedule. Courts have also found that Saturday work after reaching 40 hours in a week counts as overtime in some cases.

💸 If you are paid hourly, don’t miss the weekly holiday allowance either!

Many foreign workers pass over the weekly holiday allowance without knowing about it.

If the average over 4 weeks is 15 hours or more of prescribed working time per week, and you meet the requirements such as full attendance on the designated working days, a paid weekly holiday is granted. This weekly holiday rule also applies to workplaces with 4 or fewer regular employees.

For example, if you simply calculate a typical case of working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at an hourly wage of 12,000 won, it comes to this.

Weekly 40-hour wages: 480,000 won
Weekly paid holiday amount: 96,000 won
Total: 576,000 won

On the other hand, for typical salaried workers, paid weekly holiday hours are often already included in the monthly salary calculation. Check both the employment contract and the payslip to confirm whether they are actually included. The 2026 monthly equivalent of the minimum wage, 2,156,880 won, is also based on 209 hours per month, including 40-hour weeks and paid weekly holidays.

📄 “No night shift pay because it’s a comprehensive wage system”? Is that really true?

Your employment contract may include a certain amount for overtime and night work allowances.

But simply labeling it as a “comprehensive wage system” does not automatically make all additional work allowances disappear.

Depending on the actual contract terms, how much of each allowance is included, and how many actual working hours there were, whether additional payment is due may vary.

Therefore, if the contract says “Monthly salary ○○ won, including overtime allowance” , it is important to check exactly how many hours are calculated and how much they amount to.

🧾 Be sure to receive your pay statement too

When paying wages, the company must issue a wage statement that lists the components of the wages and how they are calculated. This is an obligation under Article 48 of the Labor Standards Act, and failure to issue it may result in a fine. If you received a pay statement, do not just keep it; check how base pay / overtime pay / night pay / holiday pay / various deductions are calculated.

📱 If you worked overtime, leave a record!

Later, you may end up in a situation where you need to prove “how many hours you worked.”

So it is a good idea to keep as many records as possible, such as your employment contract, pay statements, clock-in/out records, work schedule, company messenger logs, and records related to your arrival and departure times.

Wage claims such as unpaid overtime, night work, and holiday work allowances generally become time-barred if you do not exercise them for 3 years. 

If there is a problem, don’t put it off for too long—check your working conditions through the Ministry of Employment and Labor Customer Counseling Center (고용노동부 고객상담센터) 1350 and other channels.

💬 Wondering whether your salary has been calculated correctly?

“I worked until 11 p.m., but there was no night work allowance.”
“I work on an hourly wage, but I didn’t receive weekly holiday pay.”
“I’m not sure whether our company has fewer than 5 employees.”

If you have questions like these, feel free to leave a comment!

Or post in the Vijob community and ask directly. Foreign seniors who first worked in Korea and experienced real company life can share information based on their own experiences. 🙌

Don’t worry alone—ask the seniors directly in the Vijob community!

For all the time you worked hard in Korea, have it calculated properly and receive what you’re entitled to. Vijob will be with you on your journey to employment and life in Korea. 💙