Severance in Korea: the one-year rule and the ways people lose it
Finish a full year with the same employer and you are generally owed severance worth about a month of pay. The rule is simple; the ways teachers end up outside it are not, and almost all of them are avoidable.
Park English · Published 2026-08-22 · Updated 2026-08-22 · 2 min read
Severance is the single largest piece of money in a teaching year that people do not plan for, and the one we field the most panicked messages about, usually in month eleven.
Here is the shape of it, and then the traps.
The baseline
An employee who completes one year of continuous service with the same employer is generally entitled to severance pay. For a teacher on a standard twelve-month hagwon contract, that works out to roughly one month of average pay. Your contract should say so; if it does not mention severance at all, that is a question to ask before signing, not a reason to assume you are not covered.
Confirm the specifics against your own contract and, if anything is unclear, with the Ministry of Employment and Labor. We are not your lawyer and the details of an individual case can turn on wording.
Where it goes wrong
Leaving early, even by days. This is the big one. A teacher who finishes on day 360 because a flight was cheaper has, in most readings, not completed the year. If you are negotiating a departure date, negotiate it around your contract end date and not around an airline.
Being let go just before the year. It happens, and it is the reason to keep your own records from month one. Save your contract, your payslips, and any message where hours or duties changed.
Changing employer mid-year. Two six-month contracts at two schools are not one year at one employer. If you transfer, ask in writing how the clock is treated.
Unpaid leave that breaks continuity. A long unpaid absence can affect the calculation. Ask before you take it, not after.
What to keep, starting now
| Keep | Why |
|---|---|
| Signed contract, all pages | The end date and the severance clause |
| Every payslip | Average pay is calculated from your recent pay |
| Any message changing hours or pay | Shows what you were actually working |
| Your ARC and visa dates | Ties your employment period together |
Put them in one folder in cloud storage on your first week. It takes ten minutes and it is the difference between a conversation and an argument.
The awkward part
Some schools pay severance late, in instalments, or only after being asked twice. That is not universal and it is not most schools, but pretending it never happens would not help anyone. If you are close to your end date and the topic has not come up, raise it politely in writing about a month out. A short message asking when severance and your final pay will be processed creates a record and usually settles it.
If you were placed through us, tell us at that point rather than after you have left the country. We can do a great deal while you are still here and very little once you are not.