Establishment of Retirement Benefit Scheme (Article 4, Article 8, Article 9)
1)The employer may pay employees interim severance payments for the consecutive years of service in advance, even before the employment is terminated, upon the employees request.
2)In this case, the consecutive years of service for calculation of severance pay will be recalculated after the interim severance payments.


*Guarantee of Workers Retirement Benefits

Article 4 (Establishment of Retirement Benefit Schemes)
(1) Each employer shall establish at least one retirement benefit scheme in order to pay benefits to retiring workers: Provided, That this shall not apply to workers whose continuous service period is less than one year, nor workers whose average weekly working hours over a four-week period is less than 15 hours.

(2) In establishing a retirement benefit scheme pursuant to paragraph (1), no differentiation shall be made within the same business in respect of the application, etc. of the method for calculating the amount of benefits or contributions.

(3) If any employer intends to establish a type of retirement benefit scheme or change an existing type into a different one, the employer shall, if a trade union participated bya majority of workers exists at the business concerned, obtain the consent of the trade union, and if no such trade union exists, obtain the consent of a majority of workers (hereinafter referred to as "representatives of workers").

(4) If any employer intends to change the details of a retirement benefit scheme established or changed pursuant to paragraph (3), he/she shall seek opinions from the representatives of workers: Provided, That if the employer intends to change such details in a manner unfavorable to workers, he/she shall obtain the consent of the representatives of workers.

Article 8 (Establishment, etc. of Retirement Allowance Systems)(1) Any employer who intends to set up a retirement allowance system shall establish a system that makes it possible to pay a retiring worker a prorated amount equivalent to average wages earned for 30 days for each year of his/her continuous service.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any employer may, upon request by a worker due to a ground prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as housing purchases, pay such worker a retirement allowance for his/her continuous service period prior to his/her retirement. In such cases, the continuous service period to be used for the calculation of the amount of a retirement allowance accumulated thereafter shall be reckoned anew from the time when the balance is settled.

Article 9 (Payment of Retirement Allowances)

Where any worker retires from his/her office, the employer shall pay such worker a retirement allowance within 14 days from the date when a ground for the payment occurs: Provided, That the payment date may be delayed under an agreement by the parties concerned in extraordinary circumstances.