One day can decide your severance
Severance is owed only after at least one year of continuous work, averaging 15 hours a week or more. Leave after 364 days and you get nothing; reach 365 and you are owed about a month’s average wage. Your leaving date is the day after your last working day.
The amount is your average daily wage over the last three months × 30 days × years worked. Regular bonuses and unused leave pay count at 3/12 of the year’s total. If you just got a raise, staying until three months have passed means the whole severance is calculated on the higher pay.
Unused leave is paid out
When you leave, untaken annual leave becomes pay: daily ordinary wage (hourly ordinary wage × 8) × the days left. If your employer followed the legal leave-use promotion procedure and you still didn’t take the days, they may not have to pay.
Leave exactly on your one-year anniversary and the 15 days for year two never arise. Korea’s Supreme Court ruled that they need you to be employed the day after the anniversary. In that case you are paid only for the first-year days (up to 11).
Your visa comes first
Many work visas are tied to a specific employer or type of job. Leaving can start a deadline to find new work, change your status or leave Korea, and the rules differ by visa. Check before you resign, not after. The Immigration Contact Center (1345) answers in many languages, and HiKorea handles most applications online. E-9 workers changing employer go through the Employment Permit System at their employment center.
Pension and insurance when you go home
Whether you can take your National Pension contributions with you depends on your nationality: citizens of countries with a social security agreement or reciprocity — such as the United States, Canada and Australia — can claim a lump-sum refund, and so can anyone who paid in on an E-8, E-9 or H-2 visa. The refund is your contributions plus interest. The National Pension Service publishes the current list of countries (linked below).
Health insurance coverage ends when you leave Korea; settle any outstanding premiums before you go. If you stay in Korea without a job, you switch to regional health insurance, which can cost more than your workplace premium.
Money that arrives after your last day
Severance and final pay are due within 14 days, a tax refund can come with the final settlement, the pension refund is paid after departure, and a housing deposit is returned when the lease ends. Plan where each will be paid before you close your Korean bank account.