Korean Job Discussion Forums

[R-Seoul]

For all of you that work in Korean firms a quick question...

I was off sick with the flu at the beginning of January, and have just been told that those sick days need to come out of my annual vacation allowance.

Needless to say I was pretty shocked, not withstanding that this is immoral, is it widely practiced in Korea?

Do any of you have to take sick days as vacation?

(I still plan to get the HR manager to show me how this is legal according to Korean Labor law)

[Ya-ta Boy]

This is pretty typical.

I know someone who was hospitalized pneumonia. The boss counted up the days he was absent and subtracted them from the vacation AND threatened to fire him if the number of taken off exceeded the number of vacation days.

PS: The boss thought he was being nice by counting sick days as vacation days. He could just have fired the guy because he wasn't showing up at work.

[jmbran11]

I am a teacher, but I work for a large chaebol full-time. We are allowed one "sick day" per 6-month, but only with written proof from a doctor. Otherwise, it is deducted out of vacation days. If we are "sick" for more than one day, including hospitalization, it is vacation. As far as know, the other (non-foreign) employees are not permitted any sick days unless they are hospitalized (and I think they would still be deducted from pay).

Your policy, while possibly atrocious, does not sound out of line with my experience in Korea. Are you under contract? What does it say?

[ilovebdt]