If you fall ill, are injured or give birth while claiming jobseeker’s allowance in Korea, you can’t look for work and so can’t be recognised as unemployed for those days. Employment Insurance Act Article 63 covers this with a sickness benefit (sangbyeong geupyeo). For days after you filed as unemployed on which illness, injury or childbirth made work impossible, you can claim an amount equal to your daily jobseeker’s allowance in its place. The days are capped at your total benefit days minus days already paid, and it isn’t paid if you can get industrial-accident sick-leave benefit or similar. Claim within 14 days after the reason ends (Decree Art. 82). Enter your daily amount and days to see the benefit and the deadline.
1. Ill, injured or giving birth after filing — the same daily amount (Art. 63(1)).
2. Capped at your remaining benefit days — sickness days count as days of jobseeker’s allowance paid (Art. 63(2)).
3. Claim within 14 days of recovering, with a certificate (Decree Art. 82(1)) — not paid if sick-leave benefit or compensation is available (Art. 63(4)).
Calculator
Updates as you type. Days are capped at your entitlement minus days already paid (Art. 63(2)). The claim deadline adds 14 days to the date the reason ended and moves past Saturdays and Sundays only (our method); if your benefit period ends while you are unable to work, the deadline is 30 days after it ends instead.
The provisions
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Employment Insurance Act Art. 63(1) | For days after a claimant has filed as unemployed on which illness, injury or childbirth made work impossible and unemployment wasn’t recognised, an amount equal to the daily jobseeker’s allowance under Art. 46 (sickness benefit) may be paid on claim instead. Not paid for suspension periods under Art. 60(1)–(2) | Illness before filing isn’t covered |
| Art. 63(2) | Days are capped at total benefit days minus days of jobseeker’s allowance paid; sickness days are treated as allowance paid | Doesn’t add days overall |
| Art. 63(3) | Paid on the first allowance payment day after the reason ends (or a day the job centre sets) | Paid with your next payment |
| Art. 63(4) | Not paid if you can get sick-leave compensation (Labor Standards Act Art. 79), sick-leave benefit (Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act Arts. 52–56) or other compensation set by Decree | No double payment |
| Decree Art. 82(1) | Claim within 14 days after the reason ends (or 30 days after the benefit period ends if it ended while you couldn’t work), with a certificate of illness, injury or childbirth; within 7 days after a natural disaster or other unavoidable cause ends | A representative may file |
| Decree Art. 82(2) | The other compensation is sick-leave damages under the State Compensation Act Art. 3(2)2 and compensation under the Act on Honourable Treatment of Persons Injured or Killed while Saving Others Art. 8 | — |
| Art. 46(1)–(2) | Daily allowance = 60/100 of the base daily wage; the minimum is 80/100; if 60% falls below the minimum, the minimum applies | Sickness benefit uses this amount |
For childbirth, Enforcement Rule Art. 107(1) requires Form 96 with a birth certificate; for illness or injury, the claim uses Form 95 with a certificate.
Four sums — our example
| Case (our example, 67,000 won a day) | Sickness benefit | Worth noting (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|
| 180 days total, 60 paid, flu and hospital for 20 days after filing | 20 × 67,000 = 1,340,000 won | 100 days left afterwards |
| 120 days total, 110 paid, 20 days in hospital after filing | 10 × 67,000 = 670,000 won | Capped at the 10 left — 0 afterwards |
| Same 20 days, sick-leave benefit available | 0 won | Art. 63(4) |
| In hospital since before filing | Not covered | Para. 1 is “after filing” only |
The deadline too: if you left hospital on Tue 10 November 2026, claim by Tue 24 November, 14 days later. If you recovered on Sat 14 November, 14 days later is Sat 28 November, so the calculator shows Mon 30 November. Counting from the day after and moving past weekends follows the Civil Act and is our reading; see legal period calculator.
The 12-month window and sickness benefit
Jobseeker’s allowance is paid only within 12 months from the day after leaving (Art. 48). Sickness benefit uses up benefit days, so for long illness it may be worth comparing with extending the benefit period under Art. 48(2) (our gloss). The window and extensions are in unemployment benefit period calculator; the daily amount in unemployment benefit calculator.
Checklist
- ☐ Illness, injury or childbirth after filing as unemployed
- ☐ A medical certificate (or birth certificate)
- ☐ Claim within 14 days of recovering (30 if the period ended)
- ☐ Any sick-leave benefit or compensation available
- ☐ Not in a suspension period (Art. 60)
Questions that remain
How many days do I need to be ill?
Article 63 and Decree Art. 82 set no minimum. It must be a day on which work was impossible and unemployment wasn’t recognised, shown by a certificate. Ask the job centre how they assess it.
Does it reduce my later allowance?
Yes. Art. 63(2) treats sickness days as allowance paid. The total days stay the same; you are paid on the days you were ill (our gloss).
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Employment Insurance Act Arts. 46, 48, 63 — source (current text, effective 18 September 2026, Act No. 21473; checked 2 November 2026). Conditions (illness, injury, childbirth after filing), suspension exclusion, day cap and deemed payment, payment day, other compensation, daily amount 60% and minimum 80%.
- Korean law database — Employment Insurance Act Enforcement Decree Arts. 82–83 — source (effective 18 September 2026, Decree No. 36588; checked 2 November 2026). 14-, 30- and 7-day deadlines, certificates, the two other forms of compensation.
- Korean law database — Employment Insurance Act Enforcement Rule Art. 107 — source (effective 18 September 2026, Ministerial Ordinance No. 479; checked 2 November 2026). Claim forms 95 and 96, birth certificate.
- Not read. Art. 60 suspension details, base-wage cap and floor notices, Enforcement Rule Art. 90 (certificates), job-centre practice.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Your job centre — filing the claim and recognition.
- Work24 — forms and your payment record.
Written on 2 November 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
