The term part-time worker in Article 2 of the Labor Standards Act(LSA) means an employee whose contractual working hours per week are shorter than those of a full-time worker engaged in the same kind of job at the same workplace. For example, since a full-time worker works 40 hours per week, a worker who has worked 8 hours for 4 days a week(32 hours per week) is considered a part-time worker.
Working conditions for part-time workers shall be determined on the basis of the relative ratio of their working hours in comparison to those of full-time workers engaged in the same kind of job in the same workplace(Article 18 of the LSA). That is, even part-time workers are subject to all the provisions of the Labor Standards Act, but for statutory holidays and leaves, the principle of proportional working hours of ordinary workers is applied.

1. Legal working conditions
(1) Employment contracts and rules of employment
1) Employment contract
The employment contract of part-time workers must be issued in writing. For violations, a penalty of KRW 5 million is imposed(Articles 17 and 24 of the FPA). The items that must be included in the labor contract include: ① Matters concerning the contract period; ② Matters concerning working hours and rest hours; ③ Matters concerning components, calculation and payment methods of wages; ④ Matters concerning holidays and leave; ⑤ Matters concerning the place of work and required work; ⑥ Work days and working hours of each work day. The reason for requiring the employer to make labor contracts in writing is to prevent disputes for violation of the Labor Standards Act.

2) Rules of employment (ROE)
The employer may create rules of employment that apply to part-time workers separately from those that apply to full-time workers. If an employer wants to make or change the rules of employment, the employer shall consult with the majority of part-time workers to whom the ROE will apply. However, if the ROE are to be modified in a manner that is unfavorable to the part-time workers, the employer must obtain the consent of the majority of the part-time workers(Article 94 of the LSA). The purpose for this is to prevent the employer from unilaterally lowering the working conditions of part-time workers.

(2) Wages
① The wage calculation unit for a part-time worker is based on the hourly wage. If hourly wage is calculated as daily ordinary wage, the number of hours worked per day is multiplied by the hourly wage. ② The wage shall be paid in full to the worker directly in Korean currency, and shall be paid at least once per month on a fixed date(Article 43 of the LSA). ③ For part-time workers, the average wage of 30 days or more for one year of continuous work shall be paid as severance pay. In this case, if the average wage is less than the ordinary wage, the ordinary wage must be paid as severance pay(Article 2 of the LSA). Also, in establishing a severance pay system for part-time workers, there should be no difference from that of the severance pay system for full-time workers. ④ Even if there is no comparable full-time worker, the minimum wage under the Minimum Wage Act must be paid.

(3) Working hours
1) The contractual working hours of part-time workers are strictly protected. The employer must obtain the consent of the part-time worker to have the part-time worker work beyond the contractual working hours, and in instances such as this the Act(FPA) also stipulates that the part-time worker shall not work more than 12 additional hours from the contractual working time of one week. The employer shall pay part-time workers at least 50/100 of the ordinary wage for overtime work exceeding the contractual working hours within the legal working hours(8 hours per day, 40 hours per week). Under the Labor Standards Act, an additional wage of 50% or more of ordinary wage is paid only for overtime work exceeding legal working hours, but for part-time workers, payment of additional wages is prescribed even if the contractual working hours are exceeded within the legal working hours(Article 6 of the FPA).
2) Part-time workers are also paid an additional 50% for holiday work as specified in the rules of employment, and 100% for holiday work exceeding 8 hours(Article 56 of the LSA).
3) If a part-time worker performs night work between 10 pm and 6 am on the following day, the employer shall pay wages with an additional allowance equivalent to 50/100(Article 56 of the LSA).

(4) Holidays and annual paid leave
Holidays and annual paid leave for part-time workers are applied equally in accordance with the principle of proportional working hours for full-time workers.

1) Holidays
An average of one paid holiday per week worked shall be guaranteed, for which the contractual working hours of one day must be paid. When calculating wages according to hourly wage, the employer shall pay an additional weekly holiday allowance. However, in the case of a part-time worker who has been employed for weekend or holiday work, the weekly holiday should be given as a paid holiday on a non-weekend day.
① Calculating 6 hours per day from Monday to Friday, 5 days’ work per week for full-time workers and payment of KRW 10,000 per hour: [(30 hours × 4 weeks)/(5 days × 4 weeks) = 6 hours], results in [6 hours × KRW 10,000 = KRW 60,000].
② However, if full-time workers are working for 6 days a week: [(30 hours × 4 weeks)/(6 days × 4 weeks) = 5 hours], the result is [5 hours × KRW 10,000 = KRW 50,000].

2) Annual paid leave
The employer shall grant part-time workers a number of days of annual paid leave equal to that of full-time workers. Annual paid leave is calculated in hours, with less than one hour counting as one hour. Also, in case of monthly paid leave for those working less than one year, the contractual working hours of one day per each month should be given as monthly paid leave. The criteria for granting annual paid leave for part-time workers are as follows:



If a part-time worker works 20 hours a week, this works out to [15 days ×(20 hours/40 hours) × 8 hours = 60 hours]. In other words, each four hours is guaranteed as an annual paid leave day.



3) Maternity leave
The employer shall give 90 days of pre- and post-natal maternity leave for pregnant part-time female workers, with the first 60 days of maternity leave being paid. ① The maternity leave allowance is the amount calculated as the hourly wage of a part-time worker multiplied by the contractual working hours of one day and multiplied by 60 days. ② The remaining 30 days can be paid as maternity leave benefits as stipulated by the Employment Insurance Act(Article 74 of the LSA). Assuming that a part-time worker is paid KRW 10,000 per hour, and the contractual working hours is 5 hours per day. ① The maternity leave allowance is KRW 10,000 × 5 hours × 60 days = KRW 3,000,000. ② The maternity leave benefit is KRW 10,000 × 5 hours × 30 days = KRW 1,500,000.

(5) Exceptions to application
With respect to workers whose contractual working hours is an average of less than 15 hours per week over a four-week period(or the employment period, if they have been employed for less than four weeks), the following shall not apply: ① weekly holiday allowance(Article 55), ② annual paid leave(Article 60), ③ monthly paid leave(Article 60), and ④ severance pay(Article 34). In addition, employment insurance, national pension and national health insurance are excluded, while industrial accident compensation insurance is not.

2. Standard employment contract
(1) This contract type stipulates “working days and working hours per working day” to be included in the written description for part-time workers.

(2) The contractual working hours of part-time workers must be specified. This shall be within the limit of 12 hours, in addition to the one-week contractual working hours of part-time workers, even for overtime. That is, extended hours for part-time workers are judged based on contractual working hours rather than legal standard working hours (Article 6 of the Fixed-Term and Part-time Employment Act). If the worker works for more than the time specified in the contract, an additional wage of 50% or more of the ordinary wage will be paid even if the hours remain within the legal working hours.