The first hurdle for Korean unemployment benefit (job-seeking benefit) is 180 insured days. Article 40(1)1 of the Employment Insurance Act requires the insured unit period in the base period to add up to 180 days or more, and Article 40(2) sets the base period at 18 months before the leaving date. Those 180 days are not days on the payroll but days that were “the basis for paying wages” (Art. 41). Enter your leaving date, the start of work and the paid days per week to estimate whether you reach 180.
1. Add up the days wages were paid for in the 18 months before leaving — 180 or more (Arts. 40–41).
2. Under 15 hours a week and 2 days or fewer: the window widens to 24 months (if you worked that way for 90+ days).
3. A run of 30+ unpaid days (illness, closure, parental leave) extends the window by those days, up to 3 years.
Calculator
Updates as you type. The base period runs back 18 months from the leaving date (24 for very short hours), plus any run of 30+ unpaid days, capped at 3 years. Insured days are estimated as calendar days × paid days per week ÷ 7, rounded down — our estimate, not the official count.
The articles
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Employment Insurance Act Art. 40(1)1 | Insured unit period in the base period adds up to 180 days or more | Need not be continuous |
| Art. 40(2) main text | Base period: 18 months before the leaving date | Different employers add up inside the window |
| Art. 40(2)1 | If wages could not be paid for 30+ days in a row through illness, injury or a decree reason: 18 months plus those days (3 years at most) | Decree Art. 60: business closure, pregnancy/childbirth/parental leave, notified leave |
| Art. 40(2)2 | Under 15 hours and 2 days or fewer a week, for 90+ days of the 24 months: 24 months | Very short-hours window |
| Art. 41(1) | Count the days that were the basis for paying wages | Not calendar days |
| Art. 41(2) | If you received the benefit before your last enrolment, days before that earlier loss of status are left out | Once used, older days don't count again |
Article 40(1) has other conditions too — able and willing to work but unemployed, a leaving reason not barred by Article 58, and active job search. This calculator only checks the 180 days. For leaving reasons see the voluntary-quit benefit checker.
Three sums — our example
| Case (our example) | Insured days (our estimate) | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Left 31 Oct 2026, started 2 March, 6 paid days a week (5 + paid weekly rest day) | 244 calendar days × 6 ÷ 7 → 209 | Meets 180 |
| Same, started 1 May | 184 calendar days → 157 | 23 short — at 6 a week you need 30 weeks (210 days) |
| 2 months (60 days) unpaid parental leave before leaving | Window start moves from 1 May 2025 to 2 March 2025 | 18 months plus 60 days |
We start the window on the day after the date 18 calendar months before leaving (leaving 31 October 2026 → from 1 May 2025). The Act just says “18 months before the leaving date”, so this is our reading. A very short-hours worker leaving on 31 October 2026 gets 24 months from 1 November 2024.
Counting “days that were the basis for paying wages”
Read literally, we take this to include paid holidays such as a paid weekly rest day, but not unpaid days off. So the calculator asks for paid days per week: 6 for five working days plus a paid rest day, 5 if the rest day is unpaid. At 5 a week you need 36 weeks to reach 180. The official count follows your employer’s reported enrolment history and the job centre’s decision, so the most accurate input is the figure from your own record in the “days you already know” box.
How much you get is in the unemployment benefit calculator; separation codes are in the separation code checker.
Checklist
- ☐ The 18-month window (24 for very short hours)
- ☐ 180+ days that wages were paid for inside it
- ☐ Any 30+ day unpaid run extends the window (3 years at most)
- ☐ Days before an earlier benefit claim are left out
- ☐ Leaving reason and job-search conditions checked separately
Questions that remain
Do several employers add up?
Article 40 says the days in the base period are “added up”. Employers inside the 18-month window combine; days outside it don’t count.
What if I also worked as an artist or platform worker?
Article 41(3) leaves mixed cases to the Decree (Art. 60-2), which counts overlapping periods on the employee side, among other rules. The calculator doesn’t cover this.
Sick leave of under 30 days?
Article 40(2)1 extends the window only for “30 days or more in a row”. Shorter gaps leave the 18 months as they are.
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Employment Insurance Act Arts. 40–41 — source (current text, effective 18 September 2026, Act No. 21473; checked 22 October 2026). Art. 40(1) conditions and 180 days; 40(2) 18-month base period, extension for 30+ unpaid days, 3-year cap, 24 months for very short hours; Art. 41 counting days wages were paid for, exclusion after an earlier claim, mixed status.
- Korean law database — Enforcement Decree Art. 60 — source (current text, effective 18 September 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36588; checked 22 October 2026). Extension reasons: business closure, pregnancy, childbirth or parental leave, notified leave.
- Not read. The formula in Decree Art. 60-2(1), ministry notices, administrative rulings on paid holidays.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Your enrolment history on Work24 — dates your employers reported.
- Your local job centre — the official day count.
Written on 22 October 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
