Unpaid wage complaints in Korea: a 25-day process and how to prepare

This guide is for employees in Korea, including foreign workers, whose employer has not paid wages, overtime pay or severance pay. You can file a complaint (진정) with the Ministry of Employment and Labor (고용노동부, MOEL). A labor inspector must handle it within 25 days, not counting Saturdays and public holidays. How you prepare and follow up shapes the result. The rules below are as of October 2026.

How a wage complaint works

Labor inspectors are public officials who also act as judicial police for labor law crimes. When an inspector confirms unpaid wages in a complaint case, the office must give the employer a written correction order with a deadline, within 3 working days.

Before the interview: your statement and evidence

1. Prepare your statement

The interview with the inspector is the core of the case. Nerves or anger can make you leave things out. Write your account down by the day before:

• what your pay consists of (base pay, allowances, overtime);
• when the arrears started and how much is unpaid;
• what the employer said or promised when cutting or delaying pay, with dates and exact words.

At the interview, use your notes and answer briefly, with facts. Prepare answers to what the employer is likely to argue.

2. Organize your evidence

Objective records decide wage cases. Put your documents in this order:

1. the employment contract or annual salary contract;
2. payslips in date order. Employers must give a written or electronic payslip with every payment (Labor Standards Act, Article 48(2)); see what a payslip must show;
3. if you have no payslips, bank statements with the salary deposits highlighted;
4. KakaoTalk or text messages about pay, printed with the date and time visible.

Submit copies, keep the originals, and keep a list of what you submitted.

Get free advice and know the rules

3. Use free counseling

Get advice before and after you file. The Korea Legal Aid Corporation (대한법률구조공단, 132) gives free legal advice on unpaid wages. Some local governments, such as Incheon, list free labor law counseling centers run by the union federations 한국노총 and 민주노총. Workers hired under the Employment Permit System (고용허가제) can call the counseling center for foreign workers (외국인근로자 상담센터) at 1577-0071 in many languages. Bring your contract and payslips, and after the interview share what the employer argued. A counselor can also tell you whether you can claim more, such as severance pay or pay for unused annual leave, or whether unfair dismissal is involved.

4. Learn the rules that apply

Unpaid wages are a crime in Korea, not only a civil debt.

• Wages must be paid in money, directly to the worker and in full, at least once a month on a fixed date, unless a law or collective agreement allows otherwise (Labor Standards Act, Article 43).
• When you leave, the employer must pay all wages and other money within 14 days, unless both sides agree to extend (Article 36).
• Unpaid wages carry delay interest of 20% a year: for leavers after the 14 days, and since October 23, 2025 also for the regular wages of current employees (Article 37).
• From October 8, 2026, not paying wages is punishable by up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to ₩50,000,000 (Article 107). The old limit was 3 years or ₩30,000,000. Unpaid severance pay carries the same penalty from September 18, 2026.
• Wage claims expire after 3 years (Article 49).

Know two terms. Average wage (평균임금) is the total wages of the last 3 months divided by the number of days in that period; severance pay is based on it. Ordinary wage (통상임금) is the pay fixed in advance, regularly and uniformly, for agreed working hours; overtime, night and holiday premiums are based on it. Ask an expert when a point of law is unclear.

During the investigation

5. Talk to the inspector calmly

The inspector must stay neutral and hear the employer too, so some questions may sound unfriendly. Getting angry can hurt your case. Stay calm and polite, and state your rights clearly. If you disagree, ask politely whether the view fits the principles of the Labor Standards Act. Ask for explanations of terms or calculations, and note every conversation.

6. Keep the case moving

Do not sit and wait. If you hear nothing, call the inspector in charge. If the office extends the deadline, it must send you a written notice. If the extended deadline also passes, it must tell you at least once a month why and when it expects to finish. Attend every summons: missing two closes the case.

7. Before you close the case

An employer cannot be prosecuted for unpaid wages against the victim's explicit wish (Article 107(2)). So the inspector will ask whether you want the employer punished. Your answer matters.

• A statement that you do not want punishment (처벌불원) cannot be withdrawn, and you cannot file the same complaint again. The inspector must warn you of this and have you sign a confirmation (Labor Inspector Work Regulation, Article 41; Criminal Procedure Act, Article 232).
• A conditional statement, such as "only if I am paid", does not count as a no-punishment statement.
• Once a correction order is issued, the case does not close just because you drop the complaint.
• This protection does not apply to employers on MOEL's public list of wage defaulters during the listing period.

If the employer promises to pay soon, say you will decide after you see the payment, and fix the date and method.

Also request the certificate of unpaid wages and employer (체불 임금등·사업주 확인서) and confirm when it will be issued. You need it for:

• the substitute payment (대지급금, called 체당금 before October 14, 2021): the state pays unpaid wages up to a cap set by MOEL, claimed from the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (근로복지공단). A worker who has left must have filed the complaint within 1 year after leaving, and must claim within 6 months of the certificate's first issue. Current employees can qualify if their wage is below a level set by MOEL;
• free legal aid from the Korea Legal Aid Corporation to sue, if your average monthly wage for the last 3 months before the arrears was under ₩4,000,000 (foreign residents included).

Checklist

• Write your statement with dates, amounts and the employer's words.
• Sort your contract, payslips, bank records and messages; keep the originals.
• Get free advice before and after the interview.
• Remember the 25-day deadline and call if you hear nothing.
• Attend every summons.
• Do not give a no-punishment statement before you are paid.
• Request the certificate of unpaid wages and employer.
• Claim the substitute payment within 6 months of the certificate.