File changed work rules on Form No. 15 with workers' opinion or consent

Employers in Korea with 10 or more regular workers must write work rules (취업규칙, the company's official rulebook on hours, pay, leave and discipline), file them with the Minister of Employment and Labor, and file again every time the rules change (Labor Standards Act, Article 93). This guide is for foreign founders, managers and HR staff planning a revision. The filing takes a day, but the attachments can take weeks, so companies aiming for new rules in January start in the autumn.

What you file and where

Article 15 of the Enforcement Rule of the Labor Standards Act (근로기준법 시행규칙) requires a work rules report or change report on Form No. 15 (별지 제15호서식). It goes to the head of the competent regional employment and labor office (지방고용노동관서), the local branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor. You can file:

• online on the Labor Portal (노동포털, labor.moel.go.kr), the ministry's filing website, using the service 취업규칙(신고서, 변경신고서) with a business member (기업회원) account; or
• in person or by post at the competent office.

There is no fee. The processing period is 1 day.

Three attachments go with the form:

Change reports most often lack the comparison document. With only the revised rules, the office cannot see what changed and will ask for a supplement. One comparison table (신구조문대비표) with four columns is enough: article number, old wording, new wording and reason for the change.

Hearing the opinion and getting consent are different steps

Under Article 94(1) of the Act, when you write or change work rules you must hear the opinion of the majority union (과반수 노동조합) or, if there is none, of a majority of the workers. The proviso to Article 94(1) adds that an unfavorable change needs their consent. Article 94(2) requires you to attach the written opinion when you file.

Whether you need an opinion or consent depends on whether the change is unfavorable. There is no official form for the opinion or consent document.

Without consent, an unfavorable change is void even if it is reasonable

The Supreme Court of Korea (대법원) settled this point in a 2023 en banc decision (May 11, 2023, 2017Da35588 and 2017Da35595, consolidated). If an employer changes the rules to the workers' disadvantage without consent given through a collective decision-making process, the change breaches the proviso to Article 94(1) and infringes the workers' collective right to consent. It is void in principle, and social reasonableness alone cannot make it valid. All earlier decisions that upheld reasonable changes made without consent were overruled.

One exception remains. If the union or the workers abused their collective right to consent, the change can be valid without consent. Abuse means the need for the change was objectively clear and the employer made sincere efforts to persuade, yet the workers objected without a reasonable basis. Courts judge this strictly and may examine it on their own initiative. Do not plan around it.

So the order matters. Do not finalize the rules and collect consent afterwards. Hold briefing sessions and share materials so workers can discuss, obtain collective consent, then reflect the result in the rules. Collecting individual signatures department by department invites a dispute that workers had no chance to share views with each other.

The 13 items work rules must cover

Article 93 lists these items. Check every revision against them.

• Start and end times of work, breaks, holidays, leave and shift work
• How wages are set, calculated and paid; wage calculation periods, pay dates and raises
• How family allowances are calculated and paid
• Separation from employment (퇴직)
• Retirement benefits set under Article 4 of the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act (근로자퇴직급여 보장법), bonuses and the minimum wage
• Workers' share of costs such as meals and work supplies
• Training facilities for workers
• Maternity protection and work-family balance support, such as maternity leave and parental leave
• Safety and health
• Improving the workplace environment for workers' gender, age, physical condition or similar characteristics
• Aid for work-related and non-work-related injuries and accidents
• Preventing workplace harassment and the measures taken when it occurs
• Awards and discipline, and any other matters that apply to all workers at the business or workplace

Fines for not filing, and a criminal fine for skipping the procedure

Not filing and not following the procedure lead to different penalties. Administrative fines (과태료) follow the standards in Appendix 7 (별표 7) of the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act (근로기준법 시행령).

A breach of Article 94 is punished with a criminal fine, not an administrative fine. The amounts look small, but an unfavorable change made without consent can be challenged as void, leading to claims for the pay difference. That retroactive settlement is the real cost.

Points to check before you file

• Article 93 sets no deadline in days for filing a change. In practice, companies file without delay around the date the new rules take effect.
• Whether a change is unfavorable depends on the clause and the workplace; get a separate review for borderline clauses.
• If the work rules and an employment contract conflict, the term more favorable to the worker applies. After a revision, review your contract wording too.

Related guides: filing retirement pension plan rules, another Labor Portal filing, and employer duties after a harassment report.

Checklist

1. Count your regular workers and confirm the filing duty applies.
2. List the articles to change and build the comparison table.
3. Decide, article by article, whether each change is unfavorable.
4. If even one change is unfavorable, run the whole revision through the consent procedure.
5. If favorable and unfavorable changes are mixed, assume they will be judged together.
6. Check first whether a majority union exists.
7. With no union, set up a meeting where a majority of workers can decide collectively.
8. Record the date, attendees and handouts of each briefing session.
9. Give workers separate time to discuss among themselves.
10. Name the exact version of the draft in the opinion or consent document.
11. Write down the signing date, workers covered and whether a majority was reached.
12. File Form No. 15 with the three attachments on the Labor Portal.
13. Keep the receipt and the submitted documents together.
14. Post the revised rules at the workplace or keep them where workers can read them.
15. Check whether any clause now conflicts with your employment contracts.