Employer of Record in South Korea: 16 Providers Compared (2026)

Employing someone in South Korea: key facts

Amounts are in nominal won (KRW).

Minimum wage

One national rate for all industries; the 2027 rate is already set.

Employer contributions

Employer-paid statutory contributions in 2026, as a share of monthly pay. Severance pay is a separate liability (see below).

• The pension rate rises by 0.5 percentage points a year to 13% in 2033 (NPS, checked 2026-10-27).
• The employment-stabilisation rate depends on the employer’s headcount, and the industrial-accident row on its classification; our cost examples assume 0.65% and 0.8%.

Working hours and overtime

• 40 hours a week and 8 a day, excluding breaks (Labor Standards Act art. 50). The Act applies to workplaces with 5 or more regular workers (art. 11).
• Overtime up to 12 hours a week by agreement, so 52 hours a week at most (art. 53).
• Premiums: overtime 50%, night work 22:00-06:00 50%, holiday work 50% up to 8 hours and 100% beyond (art. 56).

Source: Labor Standards Act, checked 2026-10-27.

Annual leave and public holidays

• 15 paid days after a year with at least 80% attendance; one day per full month in the first year; from 3 years of service one extra day per two years, capped at 25 days (art. 60). Unused leave lapses after one year unless the employer caused it.
• 17 public holidays in 2026 by a press count, including Labor Day (1 May, from 2026-05-01, a paid holiday that cannot be moved) and Constitution Day (17 July, re-designated in 2026). Whether private employers must treat Constitution Day as paid was not confirmed (MOEL, MBC, checked 2026-10-27).

Source for leave: Labor Standards Act, checked 2026-10-27.

Probation

• The Labor Standards Act sets no probation period or maximum.
• A worker with under 3 months’ continuous service has no right to the 30-day notice (art. 26(1)), but dismissal still needs a just cause (art. 23(1)) (Labor Standards Act, checked 2026-10-27).

Notice and severance

• Dismissal needs a just cause (art. 23(1)) and written notice with reason and date, or it is void (art. 27).
• At least 30 days’ advance notice, or 30 days or more of ordinary wages in lieu (art. 26). No notice duty under 3 months’ service, in force majeure, or for deliberate serious misconduct.
• Dismissal for managerial reasons also needs an urgent managerial need, efforts to avoid it, fair selection criteria and notice to the worker representative 50 days before (art. 24) (Labor Standards Act, checked 2026-10-27).
• Retirement benefit of at least 30 days of average wage per year of service, for workers with at least 1 year of service and at least 15 hours a week, paid within 14 days of the payment event (arts. 4, 8, 9) (Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act, checked 2026-10-27).

13th salary and bonuses

Not mandatory. The Labor Standards Act sets no 13th-month or annual bonus duty; bonuses come from contract or rules of employment and, if paid regularly, count toward ordinary and average wages (Labor Standards Act, checked 2026-10-27).

Mandatory benefits

• The four social insurances in the table above, plus severance pay or a retirement pension, a weekly paid holiday (art. 55(1)), paid public holidays and annual leave.
• From 2026-09-18 paternity leave of 20 days can start 50 days before the due date (SAERO Labor Law Firm, checked 2026-10-27).

Work permits

• Not confirmed from official sources: the Hi Korea and Ministry of Justice pages were not opened, and whether an EOR can sponsor a work visa is unconfirmed.
• Vendor claims are listed under “How to choose an EOR in South Korea” below.

Currency and payroll

South Korean won (KRW). Wages are paid in currency, directly to the worker, in full, at least once a month on a fixed date; deductions are allowed only where a law or collective agreement provides (art. 43) (Labor Standards Act, checked 2026-10-27). Rate used on this page: 1 USD = 1,323.1 KRW, the Seoul market close of 2026-10-26 as reported by Money Today, checked 2026-10-27.

Is Employer of Record legal in South Korea?

Grey area. Korea has no EOR statute and no EOR licence. A local entity that employs a worker and lets a client direct the work matches the legal definition of worker dispatch, which needs a labour ministry permit, is limited to a positive list of occupations and caps a placement at 2 years. We found no ministry or court statement on whether a foreign client’s remote worker counts as dispatch; the verdict rests on the Act text only. See the Employer of Record glossary entry.

The rules that matter to a client (Dispatch Act, checked 2026-10-27):

• Art. 2. Dispatch means an employer hires a worker and has the worker work for a user company under the user’s direction and orders.
• Arts. 7, 9, 10. A dispatch business needs a permit from the Minister of Employment and Labor, valid for 3 years and renewable. A user company may not take services from an unpermitted dispatcher.
• Art. 5. Dispatch is allowed only for occupations in the Enforcement Decree list (32 entries), excluding direct production in manufacturing. The list includes computer professionals and office support (annex 1, checked 2026-10-27).
• Art. 6. A dispatch lasts at most 1 year and can be extended once, by agreement of dispatcher, user and worker, for at most 1 more year.
• Art. 34. Dispatcher and user are both treated as the employer under the Labor Standards Act: the dispatcher for wages, dismissal and leave, the user for hours, breaks, holidays and safety.

Risks the client carries:

• Direct-employment duty. The user company must hire the worker directly if it uses dispatched workers in non-listed work, beyond 2 years, in banned work, or from an unpermitted dispatcher (art. 6-2(1)); failure to hire is a fine of up to KRW 30 million (art. 46(2)).
• Criminal penalties. Running dispatch without a permit, or taking services from such a business, is punishable by up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to KRW 30 million, for the dispatcher and the user (art. 43).
• Union law. Since 2026-03-10, amended arts. 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act treat a non-party to the employment contract as an employer, to that extent, if it can substantially and specifically control working conditions. (MOEL, checked 2026-10-27).
• Unsettled scope. We read the Act from a yeslaw.com copy; a 2026-05-26 amendment (Act No. 21701) was not checked against it.

See also co-employment.

Who actually employs your hire in South Korea

We read the vendor pages of the 16 providers that operate in South Korea. Korea’s company registry (IROS) needs a login and has no open copy with shareholders, so no provider’s entity was checked against a registry record.

All checked 2026-10-27. “Own entity” rests on the vendor’s own statement, not a registry record. Prices marked global are site-wide list prices, not Korean ones. Papaya Global, RemotePass, Rise, Kleos, Remozo and Boundless are not in the table: we could not confirm that they offer EOR in South Korea. Justworks’ EOR country lists do not include South Korea.

Fifteen of the 16 name no Korean entity. In a grey area your exposure runs through the employer on the contract, so before signing ask: “Which Korean company signs my employee’s contract, and what is the legal basis for placing a worker with us beyond 2 years?”

How to choose an EOR in South Korea

Want to know the employer’s name? Only Remote says it employs through its own Korean entity, and it names none. Ask any provider for the company name and registration number, and check the record yourself.

Need a work visa for a foreign hire? No official source we read says an EOR can sponsor one. Skuad says sponsorship needs to come from your own Korean entity, Remote says a Right to Work assessment adds 3 days, and Rivermate says foreign nationals take up to 3 months (Skuad, Remote, Rivermate, checked 2026-10-27). These are vendor claims; ask in writing who would apply.

Will you direct the work and keep the hire long term? The dispatch rules look at who directs the work and cap a placement at 2 years in total. If you give daily instructions for years, ask how the provider structures it, or weigh your own Korean entity.

Price against completeness? On Korean pages, Skuad’s $449 is lower than $599 at Deel and Remote. Global list prices run from $99 (Native Teams) to $699 (Oyster); Safeguard Global and Rippling publish none. Vendors claim onboarding from 2 days (Deel) to one to two weeks (Safeguard Global, Remote People). Compare price after you know who employs.

What it costs to employ someone in South Korea through an EOR

The employer is the EOR itself, a large payroll employer, so no small-employer relief applies. Gross pay is KRW 5,500,000 and KRW 11,000,000 a month in 12 payments, with no 13th salary and no bonus: KRW 66,000,000 and KRW 132,000,000 a year, about USD 49,883 and USD 99,766 at 1 USD = 1,323.1 KRW (Money Today, checked 2026-10-27). 2026 rates are applied to the whole year, with the pension reference-income cap at KRW 6,370,000 for January-June and KRW 6,590,000 for July-December.

Why the higher salary costs a lower share. The pension contribution stops at the reference-income cap, and KRW 11,000,000 a month is above it while KRW 5,500,000 is below. The other contributions are flat rates on pay, and the health premium cap is not reached. Doubling the pay therefore adds about 66% to the employer cost, not 100%.

Not included: severance pay (about one month’s average wage per year of service, KRW 5,500,000 and KRW 11,000,000 a year for the two salaries), the disability-employment levy, paid leave, overtime and the EOR fee. Employment-stabilisation is 0.25% under 150 workers and 0.85% at 1,000 or more, so the real rate depends on the EOR entity’s headcount; we assume 0.65%. The industrial-accident row is also an assumption (cost basis, checked 2026-10-27).

On the same pay, employer statutory cost rose from KRW 6.94M in 2021 (10.52% of gross) to KRW 7.47M in 2026 (11.32%), about 7.6% more. The 2026 step came from the pension rate (4.5% to 4.75%), the health rate (7.09% to 7.19%) and the wage-claim levy (0.06% to 0.09%).

The EOR’s own fee comes on top, quoted per month. Three vendors show a price on a Korean page: Skuad $449 (struck-out $549, billed annually; $399 billed monthly with a 12-month commitment on the discounted rate), and Deel and Remote from $599. Global list prices, where no Korean figure exists, run from $99 (Native Teams) to $699 (Oyster). Safeguard Global and Rippling publish none. Atlas and Remote People’s pages describe typical Korean EOR fees of $300-600 a month; that is a market range, not either vendor’s price (Atlas, Remote People, checked 2026-10-27).

Hidden costs, where published:

• For every provider, setup fee, deposit and termination fee are not published for South Korea. Treat a blank as unpublished, not zero.
• Borderless AI says “no salary deposits or hidden fees” in a global statement (Borderless AI, checked 2026-10-26); Playroll says “No Minimum Commitments” (Playroll, checked 2026-10-26).

When you don’t need an EOR

• A genuinely independent contractor. If the person sets their own hours and tools and can serve other clients, a contract is closer to the real relationship. See how to pay contractors in South Korea, our hiring guide and contractor misclassification. A freelancer invoicing a foreign client has no Korean withholding (the 3.3% withholding is for Korean payers) and declares the income in the May comprehensive income tax return at 6%-45% plus 10% local tax. Pension is 9.5% of reported monthly income, all paid by the person, and health insurance is paid as a regionally insured person (NPS, PwC, checked 2026-10-27).
• Your own Korean entity. The route to weigh for a long placement. Atlas estimates USD 7,700-15,400 (KRW 10-20 million) to open one before operating costs (Atlas); Oyster’s guide says 3-6 months (Oyster) and Playroll’s page 2-4 months (Playroll), all vendor estimates, checked 2026-10-27.

What changed in 2026

• 2026-01-01: National Pension rate rose from 9% to 9.5% (employer 4.75%), scheduled to reach 13% in 2033. Health rate 7.19% (from 7.09%); long-term care 0.9448% of pay (from 0.9182%). Wage-claim levy 0.09% (from 0.06%). Minimum wage KRW 10,320 an hour (from KRW 10,030) (NPS, MOHW, Korea.kr, Minimum Wage Commission, checked 2026-10-27).
• 2026-03-10: Amended Trade Union Act arts. 2 and 3 (“Yellow Envelope Act”) in force: a non-contracting party with substantial, specific control over working conditions can be treated as an employer for bargaining and disputes (MOEL, checked 2026-10-27).
• 2026-05-01: Labor Day became a statutory public holiday (Act No. 21543), a paid holiday that cannot be moved (MOEL, checked 2026-10-27).
• 2026-07-17: Constitution Day re-designated as a public holiday; whether private employers must treat it as paid was not confirmed (Korea.kr, checked 2026-10-27).
• 2026-09-11: Amended Personal Information Protection Act in force per secondary sources: fines up to 10% of total revenue in high-severity cases, and the business owner named as the “ultimate responsible person” (Hunton, checked 2026-10-27).
• 2026-12-10 (scheduled): A worker who works exactly 4 hours can ask to waive the 30-minute break (Korea Law Blog, checked 2026-10-27).
• 2027-01-01 (scheduled): Minimum wage KRW 10,700 an hour, notified on 2026-08-05 (MOEL, checked 2026-10-27).

Numbers vendors haven’t updated

• Employer cost. Our statutory figure is 11.32% or 9.37% of gross, before severance. Deel’s Korea page estimates about 12% of salary plus a “disable hiring fee”, and RemotePass’s page, for a provider whose Korean EOR service we couldn’t confirm, says 16.34%-34.84% above gross. We don’t know what each includes, so the figures are not comparable (deel.com, remotepass.com, checked 2026-10-27).

How we built this page

Facts were collected and checked on 2026-10-27 against the Labor Standards Act and the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act on law.go.kr, the Dispatch Act from a yeslaw.com copy, and the pension, health, labour-ministry and Minimum Wage Commission pages cited above; law-firm and press material is marked where it is the only source. Employers were checked against vendor pages only: Korea’s company registry needs a login, so no entity was confirmed by a registry record. Vendors are ordered with own-entity statements first, then those that do not disclose, by Korean-page price and completeness of published data; no vendor pays for placement.