Nearly 3 million workers in South Korea may be unable to enjoy statutory holiday benefits on the upcoming Buddha's Birthday substitute holiday on the 25th.
"67.7% Are Workplaces with Fewer Than 5 Employees" — Stark Gap by Workplace Size
According to the "Status of Insured Population by Workplace Size (Employment)" data from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) on the 21st, of the 2,020,684 workplaces enrolled in employment-based health insurance as of 2024, 1,368,866 were workplaces with fewer than five employees. This means more than two out of every three workplaces in Korea are small-scale operations, accounting for 67.7% of the total.
The number of workers employed at these workplaces stood at approximately 2.98 million. This figure represents 16.5% of the total 18,028,729 workers enrolled in employment-based health insurance — roughly one in every six workers.
Adding workers at small businesses not enrolled in the four major social insurance programs, the actual scale is likely larger. Including workers not captured in official statistics, the figure could well exceed 3 million.
Article 55 of the Labor Standards Act: A "Pie in the Sky" for Small Workplaces
The problem is that these 2.98 million workers may not be able to take time off on the upcoming Buddha's Birthday substitute holiday.
The current Labor Standards Act exempts workplaces with fewer than five regular employees from certain provisions, including Article 55, which mandates that public office holidays and substitute holidays be guaranteed as paid holidays. This means workers at workplaces with fewer than five employees are not guaranteed statutory holidays as paid leave.
Consequently, unless an employer separately grants a holiday, such workers cannot receive holiday work allowance — equivalent to 1.5 times their ordinary wage — even if they work on a substitute holiday. Under this structure, they have no legal grounds to take time off if they wish to, and cannot claim premium pay even if they work.
The exemption is interpreted as reflecting the realities of small workplaces with limited staffing capacity. However, the controversy over fairness continues, as the guarantee of rest rights is determined simply by the number of employees.
The Korea Labor Institute, a state-run research institute in the field of employment and labor, stressed in a report released last year that "treating workers at workplaces with fewer than five employees disadvantageously based on the incidental circumstance of the number of employees" raises concerns. "There is a possibility of violating the constitutional right to equality, so a review is necessary," the report stated.
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