SPECIAL: Mastering Hospitality Labor Law with Attorney Choi Chang-gyun 08

TL;DR

Attorney Choi Chang-gyun breaks down how to manage days off and paid leave in hospitality—especially for shift workers.

Mastering Hospitality Labor Law with Attorney Choi Chang-gyun

08. Managing Days Off and Paid Leave in Hospitality

Writer: Choi Chang-gyun, Partner, Seocho Labor Law Firm

Editor: Somora, ONDA

Hello, I'm Choi Chang-gyun, a labor attorney at Seocho Labor Law Firm. The COVID-19 crisis has dragged on for months now, and I know many hospitality operators are struggling with staff and workforce management. A lot of companies have been forcing unpaid leave, mandating vacation usage, or encouraging employees to use their days off.

Small and mid-sized accommodation businesses are grappling with the same pressures—cancellations, refunds, and the need for flexible staffing—but most aren't sure how to handle it properly. When you actually look at Korean labor law, though, the rules around holidays and paid leave for employees are pretty clear-cut. This is especially important in hospitality, where shift work is the norm—your days off and leave need to match the work schedule.

So in this column, I'll walk you through how to properly apply holidays and leave policies at hospitality businesses.

1. The Basics of Days Off and Leave

First, let's define what "days off" (휴일) mean under labor law. They're split into statutory holidays and agreed holidays. Statutory holidays are mandated by law and must be paid. Agreed holidays are days the employer and employee agree not to work—either in the employment contract or company regulations. If you haven't set any agreed holidays, only the statutory ones apply.

Statutory holidays include weekly paid rest days (주휴일) and Workers' Day (May 1). A weekly paid rest day means if an employee works at least 15 hours per week on average over four weeks and doesn't miss any shifts, they get one paid day off per week. For example, if someone works Monday through Friday in January, three hours a day, hitting 15+ hours a week without absences, they're entitled to one paid day off. Workers' Day is always May 1.

The pay for weekly rest days is called weekly holiday pay. For monthly salaried employees, it's usually baked into the base salary. For hourly workers, you need to calculate and pay it separately each week. Workers' Day pay should be calculated and paid out with the May paycheck.

Other types of agreed holidays and leave include annual paid leave (연차유급휴가), which accrues when attendance hits 80% or more. There's also maternity leave (출산전후휴가), menstrual leave (보건휴가, one unpaid day per month for female employees), family care leave (가족돌봄휴가), and other special-purpose leaves.

Annual leave grants 15 days after one year of work. After that, you add one extra day for every two years worked, up to a max of 25 days. Employees who've worked less than a year accrue one day per month.

2. Days Off and Leave in Hospitality

Hospitality runs on alternating shifts, three-team two-shift rotations, and other irregular schedules. Employees often work Sundays and other days most people have off. So your days-off and leave policies need to match those schedules—and your employment contracts need to reflect that.

For alternating-shift or three-team two-shift workers, the weekly rest day should fall on one of their off-duty days. For alternating shifts, that's one day within the week. For three-team two-shift, it's one of the days they're already off. But if the employment contract specifies a particular weekday as the rest day, that weekday becomes the statutory rest day. Make sure your contracts align with how people actually work.

For hourly workers, as I mentioned, working 15+ hours per week on average over four weeks triggers weekly holiday pay. So both operators and employees should check whether the employee qualifies and whether the pay amount is correct. Sometimes employers roll weekly holiday pay into the hourly rate—if you do that, the contract must clearly break down the hourly wage and the holiday pay component.

Paid leave is distinct from off-duty days. Off-duty days are legally non-work days (휴무일). So if an alternating-shift worker doesn't work the next day, that doesn't count as taking leave. Leave means waiving the obligation to work on a day you were originally scheduled. However, if you grant an alternating-shift worker a day of leave, they end up with two consecutive days off—so you deduct two days of leave.

Closing Thoughts

Hospitality businesses often run into trouble because days off and leave are mishandled in employment contracts. And employees can claim unpaid or unused days off and leave for up to three years from when they accrued.

To avoid problems at your property, I hope operators and staff reading this take the time to review and prepare properly.

Next time, I'll cover managing work hours in hospitality. Thanks for reading.