Before leaving a job in Korea, confirm your final working date and settlement date, then save your pay, leave, employment, and tax records before company access ends. Check severance separately. If your employment affects your status of stay, ask 1345 which immigration step and deadline apply before making plans.
Last checked: October 1, 2026. This guide provides general information for foreign workers in Korea. Labor, tax, pension, insurance, and immigration outcomes can differ depending on your employment arrangement and personal status. For a dispute or status-of-stay decision, confirm your case with the relevant government agency.
Illustration; the documents shown are examples, not official forms.
The short version: what should you check before leaving?
Before you lose access to your company email, payroll portal, or HR system, save copies of the records you may need later.
- Employment contract and any amendments
- Recent wage statements
- Attendance or overtime records, if relevant
- Your remaining annual leave balance
- Approved but unpaid expense claims
- Written confirmation of your final working day
Then make sure you know the answer to these six questions:
- When will my final wages be paid?
- Am I entitled to severance pay, and how will it be paid?
- Which employment and tax documents do I need from the company?
- What happens to my health insurance and National Pension record?
- Does leaving this employer affect my visa or workplace reporting obligations?
- If something is missing, who do I contact first?
Do not wait until you are already overseas to discover that an important document is still inside a company system you can no longer access.
Final pay in Korea: the 14-day rule
Korea's Labor Standards Act provides an important starting point.
Under Article 36 of the Labor Standards Act, when an employee retires or otherwise leaves employment, an employer must generally pay wages, compensation, and other money or valuables owed within 14 days from the date the reason for payment arose.
The payment date can be extended if there are special circumstances and both sides agree to an extension.
Official source: Korea Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 36
That means you should not automatically assume that the company's next normal monthly payday is the only date that matters after resignation.
Before your last day, ask payroll:
“What date will my final settlement be paid, and what items will be included?”
Your final reconciliation should normally begin with salary earned through your final working day.
Depending on your situation, also check:
- Unpaid overtime
- Night or holiday work
- Approved allowances
- Unpaid expense reimbursements under company policy
- Other amounts you believe are still outstanding
Check the final wage statement, not only your bank account
Do not look only at the amount deposited into your bank account.
Article 48 of the Labor Standards Act requires employers to provide a written wage statement, including an electronic statement, when wages are paid. It should show information such as wage components, calculation methods, and deductions.
Official source: Korea Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 48
Compare your final statement with what you expected to receive.
Look at:
- Base salary
- Allowances
- Overtime or other additional pay
- Deductions
- Any final adjustments
If a number looks wrong, ask payroll how it was calculated.
What happens to unused annual leave?
This is one area where simple internet advice can be misleading.
Do not assume that every unused vacation day automatically becomes cash when you resign.
How remaining annual leave is treated depends on the circumstances, including whether leave had already expired and whether the employer properly used Korea's statutory annual-leave promotion procedure.
Article 61 of the Labor Standards Act provides circumstances in which an employer that followed the required written leave-promotion process may not be required to compensate an employee for unused leave that expired.
Instead of asking only, “How many days do I have left?”, ask HR:
“How will my remaining annual leave be treated in the final settlement, and what record is that calculation based on?”
If the amount is significant or you disagree with the calculation, keep your leave records and ask the Ministry of Employment and Labor for case-specific guidance.
Severance pay is separate from your last salary
Do not treat severance pay and your final paycheck as the same thing.
If you qualify for statutory severance, the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act also generally requires payment within 14 days after the reason for payment arises, unless the deadline is extended by agreement due to special circumstances.
Ask payroll which account is required for retirement-benefit payment and whether you need an individual retirement pension account. Confirm account details before payment is due.
Official source: Korea Law Information Center — Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act
Before leaving, ask HR:
“Am I being processed for severance, and do you need any retirement-account information from me?”
Eligibility and calculation are separate questions. Do not estimate your entitlement from your nationality, job title, or a coworker's payment alone.
Related AllThingsK8282 guide: Korean Severance Pay for Foreign Workers: Eligibility and Claims
Request proof of your employment before access disappears
One of the easiest documents to forget is also one of the most useful later.
Article 39 of the Labor Standards Act says that when an employee requests a certificate describing matters such as the employment period, type of work, position, wages, or other necessary information, the employer must prepare and provide a factual certificate—even after the employee has left.
This statutory right applies to employees who worked for at least 30 consecutive days, and the request must be made within three years after leaving. See Article 19 of the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act (checked October 20, 2026).
The certificate should include only the matters requested by the employee.
Official source: Korea Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act, Article 39
In Korean workplaces you may hear several similar terms:
- 재직증명서 — proof that you currently work for the company
- 경력증명서 — proof of career or employment history
If you are resigning, ask HR which document they can issue showing the facts you may need later, such as:
- Employment dates
- Department
- Position
- Type of work
Think beyond your next job.
A career certificate may later be useful for another employer, an immigration application, professional licensing, a loan, an overseas background check, or proof of work experience after you no longer have access to the company's HR system.
Save the final PDF somewhere outside your company email.
Keep your final payslips and tax documents
Your Korean tax record does not disappear because you resign.
Ask HR or payroll about your Receipt for Wage & Salary Income Tax Withholding (근로소득 원천징수영수증).
The National Tax Service provides official forms for wage and salary withholding as well as retirement-income tax withholding.
Official source: National Tax Service — Tax Forms
The NTS also publishes an annual year-end tax settlement manual for foreign workers.
Official source: National Tax Service — Foreign Taxpayer Guidance
If you leave a company during the year, ask payroll how your tax settlement will be handled and which documents they will issue.
Your next steps may differ depending on whether you:
- Start another job in Korea
- Leave Korea
- Had income from more than one employer
- Have other taxable income
The useful habit is simple:
Keep your tax documents even if you do not understand every line today.
They are much easier to interpret later than to reconstruct after you have left the employer.
Do not close your Korean bank account too early
Foreign workers sometimes clean up too aggressively before leaving a job—or leaving Korea.
Your last salary, expense reimbursement, severance, tax refund, National Pension refund, or another final payment may arrive after your last working day.
Before closing a Korean bank account, confirm which account each remaining payment will use.
If your company has been paying salary into one account and you intend to close it, tell payroll before the final payment is processed and ask whether the payment account can be changed.
Also save an official copy of your account information if you may need it later.
Resigning from a job is not the same as leaving Korea
These two situations should be kept separate.
You may be:
- Leaving one company and starting another
- Leaving work but remaining in Korea
- Changing your status of stay
- Entering a job-search period
- Leaving Korea altogether
Those situations can lead to very different immigration steps.
Do not assume that the expiry date printed on your Residence Card answers every question about what you may do after your employment ends.
Likewise, do not assume that another foreign worker with a different status of stay had the same reporting obligations that you have.
The Korea Immigration Service's Immigration Contact Center 1345 provides multilingual counseling on immigration and everyday administrative issues for foreign residents.
Official source: Korea Immigration Service — Immigration Contact Center 1345
When calling, give the counselor your exact status of stay, final working date, and what you plan to do next.
A useful question is:
“My employment with my current company ends on [date]. I hold [exact status]. I plan to [start another job / stay in Korea while job searching / leave Korea]. What notification, workplace change, or status-of-stay procedure applies to me, and what is the deadline?”
That question is much more useful than simply asking, “Can I quit my job?”
Related AllThingsK8282 guide: From Student Status to Work in Korea: What to Verify Before You Start
Check what happens to your health insurance
If you were enrolled in National Health Insurance through your employer, leaving the company can change your insurance category.
The National Health Insurance Service states that registered foreigners working at a covered workplace are generally enrolled as employee-insured persons.
Different rules apply to foreign residents covered as self-employed insured persons.
Official source: National Health Insurance Service — Health Insurance for Foreigners
If you are staying in Korea, do not simply assume that your company insurance continues unchanged—or that you immediately have no coverage at all.
Ask NHIS what status will apply after your employee-insured status ends and whether there is anything you need to submit.
This is especially worth checking if there will be a gap between jobs.
National Pension: resignation does not automatically mean a refund
National Pension is another area where people often mix together two separate events.
Leaving your job does not automatically mean you can withdraw your Korean National Pension.
The National Pension Service says lump-sum refund eligibility for foreigners depends on factors including:
- Nationality
- Applicable social-security agreements
- Reciprocity rules
- In some cases, status of stay
- Whether the person is leaving Korea
Official source: National Pension Service — Lump-sum Refund for Foreigners
If you are simply changing companies, your pension history may continue under your next employer.
If you are permanently leaving Korea, check your record and refund eligibility separately.
Related AllThingsK8282 guide: Korea National Pension Refund: Eligibility and Application Guide
What if your final pay does not arrive?
Start with a written question to payroll or HR.
State:
- Your final working date
- The payment you expected
- What was actually paid
- The specific amount or item that appears to be missing
Attach only the relevant records.
If the issue is not resolved, the Ministry of Employment and Labor's 1350 counseling line handles questions about Korean labor laws and practices.
Official source: Ministry of Employment and Labor
Foreign workers who need multilingual help can also use the Ministry of Justice's 1345 Immigration Contact Center.
In 2026, the Ministry of Justice expanded foreign-worker rights support to include problems such as unpaid wages, assault, sexual harassment, passport confiscation, and forced labor.
Official source: Korea Immigration Service — Foreign Worker Rights Support
Korea also operates a Village Lawyers for Foreigners program. Foreign residents can request legal counseling through 1345 for everyday legal issues including employment and lease disputes.
Official source: Korea Immigration Service — Village Lawyers for Foreigners
If money is missing, do not rely only on phone calls.
Keep copies of documents, emails, messages, payroll statements, and the date of each contact.
If you are leaving Korea as well as leaving your job
Your checklist becomes longer.
Your employer's final settlement is only one part of the departure process.
You may also need to deal with:
- National Pension
- National Health Insurance
- Your Korean bank account
- Your phone contract
- Your housing deposit
- Utilities
- Residence Card or immigration procedures
- Tax records
- Services that still use your Korean phone number for verification
This is why closing your Korean phone number and bank account should usually come near the end of departure planning, not at the beginning.
A working Korean phone number may still be useful while resolving bank authentication, government logins, delivery issues, or final employer communication.
Similarly, keep access to the personal email address you gave HR.
A practical resignation timeline
One to two weeks before your final day
- Confirm the official final working date.
- Ask for the final settlement schedule.
- Download your personal employment records.
- Request your career or employment certificate.
- Ask which tax documents will be issued.
- Confirm how unused annual leave will be handled.
- Check outstanding expense claims.
Before leaving the workplace
- Confirm the bank account for final salary.
- Confirm how severance will be paid, if applicable.
- Save your final contact information for HR or payroll.
- Check immigration obligations if your employment affects your status of stay.
After your last working day
- Check the final wage statement.
- Compare the statement with the bank deposit.
- Follow up promptly if an expected item is missing.
- If staying in Korea, confirm your next insurance and immigration status.
- If leaving Korea, start your pension, banking, housing, utility, phone, and immigration departure checklist.
The mistake to avoid: treating HR clearance as the finish line
Returning your ID card and laptop may mean the company's offboarding process is finished.
It does not necessarily mean your process is finished.
Before you consider the resignation complete, you should be able to answer:
- Was my final pay correct?
- Do I know when severance will arrive, if I qualify?
- Do I have proof of my employment?
- Do I have my wage and tax records?
- Do I know what happens to my health insurance?
- Have I checked my visa or workplace-reporting obligations?
- If I am leaving Korea, have I checked my pension separately?
If the answer to one of those is “I think HR handles it,” that is the item to verify.
Leaving a Korean job is much easier when you separate the process into payroll, documents, tax, insurance, pension, and immigration—and close each one deliberately.
Related AllThingsK8282 guides
- Korean Employment Contracts: 5 Clauses to Check — Useful before signing your next contract, especially for salary, termination, and severance terms.
- Korean Severance Pay for Foreign Workers: Eligibility and Claims — Use this for the separate question of severance eligibility and calculation.
- Korea National Pension Refund: Eligibility and Application Guide — For foreign workers leaving Korea who want to check whether a lump-sum refund is available.
- From Student Status to Work in Korea: What to Verify Before You Start — Useful when employment and immigration status are connected.
Official sources checked
- Korea Law Information Center — Labor Standards Act and Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act
- National Tax Service — Tax withholding and year-end settlement information
- National Health Insurance Service — Health insurance information for foreign residents
- National Pension Service — National Pension and lump-sum refund information for foreigners
- Korea Immigration Service — Immigration Contact Center 1345 and foreign-resident support
- Ministry of Employment and Labor — Labor-law guidance and counseling
Editorial note: This article provides general information based on official sources checked on October 1, 2026. It is not individualized legal, tax, pension, insurance, or immigration advice. Rules and procedures can change, and your contract, status of stay, nationality, employment history, and future plans can change the answer.
Editorial update — October 21, 2026 (KST): Repaired the two general NHIS and NPS homepage links in the source list after checking their current official English landing pages. The direct guidance links and the article’s original review dates are retained; this link repair is not a new verification of every tax, insurance or immigration condition.
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