Severance Pay Calculator (Average Wage Basis)
Enter your start date, your retirement date, and the total wages you received in the 3 months before leaving, and this calculates your statutory severance pay (퇴직금). The retirement date is the day after your last working day.
Show calculation steps
Step 1, days of service = retirement date − start date (number of days). If the retirement date is earlier than the same date one year after the start date (a leap year can make 365 days still less than one year), the result says you are not eligible for severance pay.
Step 2, average wage period = the actual number of days in the 3 months right before the retirement date (89 to 92 days). If the retirement date is the last day of a month, such as May 31, and the month 3 months earlier has no same date, counting starts from that month's last day (such as February 28).
Step 3, daily average wage = total wages for the 3 months ÷ number of days in that period.
Step 4, severance pay = daily average wage × 30 days × days of service ÷ 365. Amounts below 1 won are dropped.
Example: if you started on January 1, 2020 and worked until December 31, 2022, your retirement date is January 1, 2023. Days of service are 1,096, and the calculation period is 92 days, from October 1 to December 31, 2022. If your 3-month wages are KRW 9,000,000, the daily average wage is about KRW 97,826 and the severance pay is KRW 8,812,388.
How to use
For the start date, enter the day you first began working, based on your employment contract or the date you were enrolled in the four major social insurances (4대보험). For the retirement date, enter the day after your last day of work, not the last day itself. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (고용노동부) severance calculator also tells you to enter "the date 1 day after the last day worked." If you worked until December 31, the retirement date is January 1 of the next year.
The 3-month wage total is the sum of your base pay and all allowances received in the 3 months right before the retirement date, before tax. The fastest way is to add up the "total pay" on three payslips. If you worked only a few days in the last month, enter only the pay for those days.
Adding bonuses and annual leave pay
The average wage (평균임금) includes not only money received every month but also part of annual bonuses and annual leave pay. In the Ministry of Employment and Labor calculator's method, you multiply the full amount of bonuses received in the 12 months before leaving by 3/12 and add it to the 3-month wages. For annual leave pay, you likewise multiply the pay received for unused leave earned in the year before leaving by 3/12 and add it. According to the Ministry's answer, annual leave pay that first became payable upon retirement is not included.
This calculator has no separate bonus field, so add it yourself. For example, if your 3-month pay is KRW 9,000,000 and your annual bonus is KRW 4,000,000, then 4,000,000 × 3/12 = KRW 1,000,000, so you enter KRW 10,000,000. With the example dates above, severance pay is KRW 9,791,542, about KRW 980,000 more than if the bonus were left out.
Basis of the calculation
Article 4 of the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act (근로자퇴직급여 보장법, "퇴직급여법") excludes from retirement benefits workers whose continuous service is less than 1 year, or whose scheduled working hours average less than 15 hours per week over 4 weeks. Article 8 of the same Act requires severance pay of at least 30 days' average wage for each year of continuous service, and Article 9 requires payment within 14 days of the retirement date (the deadline can be extended by agreement in special circumstances). Article 2 of the Labor Standards Act (근로기준법) defines the average wage as "the total wages paid during the 3 months before the day the reason for calculation arose, divided by the total number of days in that period."
Sources checked: National Law Information Center (국가법령정보센터; current text of the Retirement Benefit Act and the Labor Standards Act), Ministry of Employment and Labor (고용노동부; severance calculator guidance, the 3/12 method for bonuses and annual leave pay). Checked: 2026-10-13.
Common mistakes and cautions
- This calculator does not check the 15-hours-per-week condition. Even if you worked more than 1 year, you are not eligible if your scheduled working hours average less than 15 hours per week over 4 weeks. Check the working hours in your employment contract first.
- If you enter your last working day as the retirement date, one day is lost, and if you worked exactly 1 year the result may wrongly show "less than 1 year."
- If you enter take-home pay (after tax) as the 3-month wages, the severance pay will come out lower. Enter the total pay before tax.
- If there are periods that must be excluded from the average wage period, such as parental leave, maternity leave, or leave for a work-related illness (excluded periods, 미산입기간, Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act Article 2), the result will differ from this calculation. Check using the Ministry of Employment and Labor calculator, where you can enter excluded periods separately.
- If the calculated average wage is lower than the ordinary wage (통상임금), the ordinary wage is used as the average wage (Labor Standards Act Article 2, paragraph 2). This calculator does not make that comparison.
- If your company has a retirement pension plan (DB or DC), the amount you receive may differ from this calculation depending on investment results.
Frequently asked questions
If I work exactly 1 year and then quit, can I receive severance pay?
If the retirement date (the day after your last working day) is on or after the same date one year after your start date, it is counted as 1 year of continuous service. If you started on March 2, 2025 and worked until March 1, 2026, the retirement date is March 2, which is the same date one year after the start date, so you are eligible.
Do part-time workers get severance pay too?
Even if the job is called part-time, you are eligible if you have worked continuously for 1 year or more and your scheduled working hours average 15 hours or more per week over 4 weeks. On the other hand, even a regular employee is not eligible if they have worked less than 1 year.
My monthly pay was cut during the 3 months. Do I lose out?
The Labor Standards Act says that if the average wage is lower than the ordinary wage, the calculation is redone using the ordinary wage. Periods set by law, such as business suspension or leave, may also be excluded from the average wage period, so check by calling the Ministry of Employment and Labor consultation line (dial 1350, no area code).
By when must severance pay be paid?
It must be paid within 14 days of the retirement date. In special circumstances, the two parties can agree to extend the deadline.
Is severance pay taxed?
Retirement income tax (퇴직소득세) is withheld at source, so the amount deposited into your account is less than this calculation. This calculator shows only the statutory severance pay before tax.
This is a reference calculation; official guidance from the relevant institution takes precedence.
Tools that go well with this one
- Korean Age and D-day Calculator — count how many days are left until your first work anniversary.
- Deposit and Savings Interest Calculator — compare how much interest you would earn by putting your severance pay in a deposit.