■ Comparison of International and Domestic Standards for Paid Annual Leave System
Regarding the international standards and the standards under the Korean Labor Standards Act for the paid annual leave system, we can compare them based on the following categories: ① number of vacation days and conditions for entitlement, ② methods of use, ③ guarantees of paid annual leave, and ④ compensation for unused paid annual leave.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has adopted the Annual Holidays with Pay Convention (1936) and the Holidays with Pay (Revised) Convention (1970) for the paid annual leave system. The main points are as follows: ① with regard to the number of vacation days and entitlement conditions, "in no case shall the period of annual leave be less than three weeks per year, and workers with less than one year of service shall be entitled to a pro rata amount of leave in respect of that year of service"; ② with regard to the use of paid annual leave, "the annual leave may be taken in parts, but the duration of such parts shall not be less than two consecutive weeks, and the leave shall be granted within the year following the year in respect of which it is due"; ③ paid annual leave must be granted as paid working days. ④ Regarding unused paid annual leave, "workers who have completed a minimum period of employment of six months shall be entitled to a payment in lieu of leave not taken, unless the employment relationship is terminated for reasons beyond their control."
The paid annual leave specified in Article 60 of the Korean Labor Standards Act is based on the premise of taking leave, but it also specifies monetary compensation if unused. Firstly, in terms of the number of days and eligibility, an employer must provide 15 days of paid annual leave to employees who have worked for more than 80% of the year. For employees who have worked continuously for more than 3 years, an additional day of paid annual leave must be granted for every two years of continuous employment exceeding the first year, up to a maximum of 25 days. Secondly, in terms of how to use the leave, employers must grant paid annual leave when requested by employees, but if granting leave at the requested time causes significant operational difficulties, the employer may change the timing.
Paid annual leave can be used continuously on specific dates or over multiple days. Employees have the right to request leave on specific dates, and employers have the right to adjust the requested leave dates based on the situation of their business operations. Thirdly, in terms of guaranteeing paid annual leave, employers must ensure that employees receive paid leave on their workdays. Therefore, paid annual leave should not be burdened on weekly holidays, unpaid days off, or agreed-upon holidays. Finally, with regard to compensation for unused paid annual leave, "if paid annual leave is not taken within a year, it will expire. However, if the employee is unable to take paid annual leave due to the employer's fault, it will not expire." This means that if an employee is unable to use their paid annual leave, the employer must pay them a compensation for unused paid annual leave.

■ Application Status of Paid Annual Leave for Foreign Workers
Paid annual leave should be applied to foreign workers as a matter of course. However, the "Employment Permit System Regulation for Foreign Workers" (Annex Form No. 6) does not specifically mention the mandatory inclusion of paid annual leave in the Labor Standards Act and only states that "any matters not specified in this agreement shall be governed by the Labor Standards Act." In reality, the majority of employers do not pay paid annual leave to foreign workers for simple functions. According to a 2014 report by Amnesty International, "None of the simple function foreign workers interviewed by Amnesty International received paid annual leave or paid leave allowances."
Foreign workers in simple functions are not compensated for paid annual leave. On the other hand, professional foreign workers are subject to the same regulations for paid annual leave as domestic workers. In 2011, the Supreme Court recognized the worker status of 24 native English teachers in a worker status confirmation lawsuit and ruled that they should be paid holiday pay, paid annual leave, and retirement allowances based on their period of employment. Supreme Court 2015. 6. 11. Sentence 2014da88161 Sentence
In calculating retirement allowances, unused paid annual leave allowances were reflected in the average wage for the retirement allowance calculation. In other words, the Labor Standards Act applies equally to professional foreign workers as it does to domestic workers. Therefore, foreign workers in simple functions should also be guaranteed paid annual leave and should be paid a corresponding allowance for unused paid annual leave. In addition, in the case of retirement, they can claim the difference in retirement allowances calculated by recalculating the retirement allowance, including unused paid annual leave allowances, and reflecting them in the average wage calculation. They should also be paid delay damages calculated at a rate of 20% per year according to the Labor Standards Act from the day after 14 days from the date of retirement until the day of payment.

■ Implementation of Paid Annual Leave for Foreign Workers
Firstly, regulations on paid annual leave by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the European Union (EU) prohibit the substitution of unused paid leave with monetary compensation, except in cases of termination of employment.

However, in Korea, compensation for unused paid leave is still provided due to the lack of a settled culture of using paid leave. To eliminate this practice of monetary compensation, Article 61 of the Labor Standards Act encourages the use of paid leave as a principle. If the employer has taken measures to promote the use of paid leave but the employee fails to take their annual leave, the leave will be forfeited, and the employer will be exempt from compensation liability. Additionally, through the substitution of paid leave (Article 62 of the Labor Standards Act), employers are encouraged to collectively use annual paid leave to promote the use of paid leave.
If foreign workers are allowed to visit their hometowns for about 15 days a year by using paid annual leave, their personal grievances or desired improvements in the working environment can be addressed, and employers are responsible for monetary compensation for unused annual leave. This can lead to savings in labor costs.
Second, if the employment relationship is terminated due to retirement before the annual paid leave is used, monetary compensation is provided for the unused annual paid leave. Therefore, if a foreign worker retires without using annual paid leave, he/she can receive regular wages corresponding to the number of unused days for the unused annual paid leave (see previous 9. Annual paid leave).
Third, when calculating an employee's retirement allowance, the paid annual leave allowance accrued before retirement must be included in the basis for calculating the average wage used to calculate the retirement allowance, based on the attendance rate in the year before the retirement, regardless of whether the employee received the allowance. However, if all annual leave has been used and no unused paid annual leave allowance has been accrued, it does not need to be included. In such cases, the retirement allowance should be calculated by adding the wage differential calculated by including the amount of unpaid unused annual leave allowance in the calculation of the average wage to be used for calculating the retirement allowance.
When an employee retires, the employer must pay all wages and other monetary benefits within 14 days of the retirement date. If the employer fails to pay the wages and retirement allowance that should be paid according to Article 36 of the Labor Standards Act, the employer must pay late payment interest within the range of the interest rate prescribed by the President's decree, which is within 100% of the annual rate of 40% for the number of days of delay from the next day of payment until the actual payment date. The interest rate prescribed by the President is "100% of the annual rate of 20%".