Ordinary Wage in Korea: Complete Calculator Guide for Foreign Workers

What Is Ordinary Wage (통상임금)?

Current standard (July 2026) — the Supreme Court en banc decision of 19 December 2024 (2020다247190, 2023다302838) abolished the "fixedness" requirement for ordinary wage. The test is now consideration for contractual work, regularity and uniformity, and regular bonuses carrying a continued-employment or minimum-workdays condition do qualify. Any "fixedness" discussion below reflects the former 2013 standard. The new standard applies, in principle, to ordinary-wage calculations made on or after the ruling date (19 December 2024).

Ordinary wage (통상임금) refers to wages paid to a worker on a regular and uniform basis as consideration for contractual work. Article 6 of the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act (근로기준법 시행령 제6조) defines ordinary wage as "the hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or piece-rate amount agreed to be paid for prescribed work or total work performed." In short, the defining characteristic of ordinary wage is that it is predetermined and paid regardless of whether specific work was actually performed.

Ordinary wage matters because it serves as the calculation base for various statutory allowances: overtime allowance (연장근로수당, ×1.5), night-work allowance (야간근로수당, ×0.5), holiday-work allowance (휴일근로수당, ×1.5–2.0), and annual leave allowance (연차수당). If ordinary wage is set too low, all of these allowances are reduced accordingly — directly affecting the worker's take-home pay.

Items Included in Ordinary Wage

The Supreme Court's 2013 en banc decision (2012다89399) set the criteria that formerly applied, including the \"fixedness\" requirement. The en banc decision of 19 December 2024 (2020다247190, 2023다302838) abolished fixedness, leaving the current three criteria: consideration for contractual work (소정근로 대가성), regularity (정기성), and uniformity (일률성).

Items typically included (examples)
- Base salary (기본급)
- Position allowance (직책수당), job-duty allowance (직무수당)
- Qualification allowance (자격수당), license allowance (면허수당)
- Meal allowance (식대) and commuting allowance (교통비) paid as a fixed monthly amount
- Regular bonuses (정기상여금) paid at set intervals without conditions

Items typically excluded (examples)
- Business-trip expenses and operational activity costs reimbursed as actual expenses
- Performance bonuses that vary based on work results
- Holiday bonuses (명절 상여금) conditioned on being employed at a specific point in time
- Condolence money and other welfare-purpose payments

Under the former standard, regular bonuses carrying an "employment-at-time-of-payment" condition were considered to lack fixedness and may therefore be excluded from ordinary wage. Conversely, bonuses paid every quarter without conditions are included.

Note for foreign workers: Your employment contract or work rules (취업규칙) may specify different allowance structures. Always check whether your contractual terms meet or exceed these statutory standards.

How to Convert Ordinary Wage to an Hourly Rate

The figure actually used to calculate allowances is the hourly ordinary wage (시간급 통상임금). For monthly-salaried workers, the formula is:

Hourly Ordinary Wage = Total Monthly Ordinary Wage ÷ Monthly Prescribed Working Hours

For a standard 40-hour workweek, monthly prescribed working hours are typically 209 hours (40 hours/week + 8 weekly holiday hours × 4.345 weeks). If your prescribed working hours differ, use your actual hours.

Example
- Base salary KRW 2,500,000 + position allowance KRW 200,000 + fixed meal allowance KRW 100,000 = monthly ordinary wage KRW 2,800,000
- Hourly ordinary wage = 2,800,000 ÷ 209 = approx. KRW 13,397
- Overtime allowance for 1 hour = 13,397 × 1.5 = approx. KRW 20,096

Common Mistakes and Points to Watch

  1. Treating only base salary as ordinary wage: Allowances paid regularly and uniformly as consideration for contractual work must be included.
  2. Miscalculating prescribed working hours: 209 hours applies to workplaces with a 40-hour week. Part-time workers and those on alternating-week schedules must calculate their hours separately.
  3. Failing to check whether bonuses are included: Always review the payment conditions stated in your employment rules and employment contract.

Calculate Yours Instantly with Workbear

The key to calculating ordinary wage is correctly classifying each pay item and identifying your prescribed working hours. The Workbear (workbear.kr) annual salary take-home calculator lets you enter your base salary and various allowances to see your after-tax net pay in one step. You can also use the AI search feature to look up specific cases — such as "does my allowance count as ordinary wage?" — right away.

Related guides cover the same issue from other angles: see Ordinary Wage in Korea for the criteria, and Ordinary Wage in Korea for calculation and examples.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific cases, consult a certified labor attorney (노무사) or lawyer.