Yesterday's retention-subsidy article answered "what if the time off is unpaid?" with one line: that is a different scheme — Decree art. 21-3, and it pays the worker. This fills that gap. The name is the same, but the money lands somewhere else. The paid subsidy returns part of the shutdown allowance to the employer who paid it; the unpaid one is claimed by the employer and paid by the employment security office straight into the account each worker names.
1. There is a minimum headcount. Half the workforce at 19 or fewer, ten workers at 20-99, a tenth at 100-999, one hundred at 1,000 up — a 20-person and a 99-person workplace both need "ten", which is 50.0% and 10.1% of the staff.
2. The amount sits within 50% of the average wage. On 3m won a month the daily wage is 100,000 and half of it, 50,000, is the daily ceiling — 1,500,000 per worker over 30 days, 15,000,000 for ten.
3. It is an approval, not a filing. The plan goes in 30 days before the measure, a review panel scores it with 60 to pass, and sales must be down 30% — double the 15% the paid subsidy asks.
It reads the second sentence of art. 21(1) of Korea's Employment Insurance Act, arts. 21-3 and 68 of its Enforcement Decree, art. 34 of the Enforcement Rule, and the Ministry notices on claiming the retention subsidy (No. 2026-30, in force 12 May 2026) and on its cap, as written. This subsidy goes to the workers, not the employer - the employer claims it, but the employment security office pays it straight into the account each worker names (Notice art. 21(4)). It applies where an employer facing unavoidable employment adjustment, after consulting the workers' representative, has at least the required number of workers (half of the workforce at 19 or fewer, ten at 20-99, a tenth at 100-999, one hundred at 1,000 or more) provide no work for 30 days or more, paying them nothing or less than half the average wage for that time. Paying less than half requires the Labor Relations Commission's approval under art. 46(2) of the Labor Standards Act. The amount is set within 50% of the average wage, taking account of what the employer paid, and may not exceed 68,100 won a day per worker; the period is capped at 180 days per worker. The plan is filed 30 days before the measure starts and must be approved (a review panel scores it, 60 to pass), and sales must be down 30% on the reference month (Rule art. 34). What this calculator returns is a ceiling, not a settled amount - the office decides the figure and the days. An estimate - confirm on Work24 or with the call centre (1350).
The Labor Relations Commission's approval is the fork
What the shutdown-allowance article listed as an exception is the doorway here. Art. 46(2) of the Labor Standards Act: "where it is impossible to continue the business for an unavoidable reason and the employer has obtained approval from the Labor Relations Commission, an allowance below the standard in paragraph 1 may be paid." Take that approval and pay less than 50% of the average wage, or nothing at all, and Decree art. 21-3 opens.
Art. 21-3(1) puts it in one sentence: an employer facing unavoidable employment adjustment that, "after consulting the workers' representative ... has the following number of insured workers provide no work for 30 days or more, and during that time pays no shutdown allowance or other money, or pays less than 50% of the average wage," may have the subsidy paid to those insured workers. The last four words are why this article exists.
There is a gap in between. Where the approval is in hand and the employer pays 50% or more but under 70% of the average wage, the approval exists but the unpaid subsidy's own condition - under 50% - is not met. The text does not treat that band separately.
Half at twenty, ten at ninety-nine
Here is a threshold the paid subsidy does not have. Art. 21-3(1) sets four brackets: "where the total insured workers number 19 or fewer: 50% or more of them"; "20 to 99: ten or more"; "100 to 999: 10% or more"; "1,000 or more: one hundred or more".
The numbers look gentle; as shares they are a cliff. A 20-person workplace needs ten people off for 30 days or more, which is 50.0% of everyone. A 99-person workplace also needs ten - 10.1%. The same ten workers, half the staff in one case and one in ten in the other. The 19-person workplace carries the most: "50% or more" of 19 is not 9.5 but ten, or 52.6%.
The calculator's first row returns that minimum. Name fewer and the measure does not qualify, however long it runs. Art. 9 of the notice adds that a worker who passes 90 days of insured status during the measure can be counted in the workforce and among the covered from the next day.
Half the average wage, and 68,100 a day
Art. 21-3(2): "the subsidy shall be the amount set by the Minister within 50% of the insured worker's average wage, taking account of the money the employer paid that worker. In this case the subsidy may not exceed the amount the Minister sets by notice per insured person." That notice amount is the same 68,100 as on the paid side - the greater of 60% of the benefit-base ceiling and 80% of the minimum daily wage.
On a 3m won monthly average wage the daily figure is 100,000 and half of it is 50,000. That is below the 68,100 cap, so it is the daily ceiling: 1,500,000 per worker over 30 days, 15,000,000 for ten. Once the monthly average passes 4,086,070, half of it clears 68,100 and the cap takes over.
The word "within" matters. What this calculator returns is a ceiling, not a settled amount. Art. 20(1) of the notice says the office "shall determine the amount and the period within the cap and within 50% of each worker's average wage, taking account of the worker's wage level" - how much, for how many days, is the office's call. Where the employer paid something, art. 21(2) has it deducted before the claim: pay 900,000 a month (30,000 a day) and the daily ceiling becomes 20,000, or 600,000 over 30 days.
The same name, but the money lands somewhere else
Set the two side by side and six rows differ.
The largest difference is who is paid. Art. 21(4) of the notice: "where the head of the employment security office pays the subsidy claimed by the employer to workers on an unpaid retention measure, it shall be deposited directly into the financial institution the worker designates." It does not pass through the employer's hands.
The periods read alike and mean different things. The paid subsidy stops at "180 days per insurance year" (art. 21(2)), counted for the workplace; the unpaid one at "180 days per insured person" (art. 21-3(3)), counted per head. And the sales test is twice as steep - down 15% in the reference month for the paid subsidy (Rule art. 24), 30% or more for the unpaid one (art. 34). The three-month test differs too: a "continuous decline" on the paid side, but "down 20% or more in each" on the unpaid one.
An approval, not a filing
The paid subsidy needs a filing by the day before the measure starts. Not this one. Art. 12(3) of the notice: "the unpaid retention measure plan shall be submitted 30 days before the day the measure is to start." Then art. 15: the head of the office decides whether to support it and may convene a review panel including outside experts, which sets the amount and the period only where the plan scores 60 or more on average.
The plan carries the record of consultation with the workers' representative and the Labor Relations Commission's approval (art. 12(1)(ii)). It is drawn up with each covered worker's confirmation and kept at the workplace for three years after the measure ends (art. 12(4)). Changing it means filing 10 days before the change date, and where the change is worse for the workers - more of them, or a longer measure - the approval is reconsidered (art. 19).
The claim is due "within 3 months from the day after the measure reaches 30 days from its start" (art. 21(1)). Costs of developing the workers' skills are paid separately to the employer, within 100,000 won per worker a month (art. 20(2)).
Questions that remain
The company wants me to sign an unpaid-leave consent form.
What art. 21-3(1) requires is consultation with the workers' representative and the Labor Relations Commission's approval - not individual consent. Signing or not, without that approval you are simply not being paid the allowance you are owed; that is the question the shutdown-allowance article left open. Ask the regional labour office before signing.
Half the average wage is less than the shutdown allowance.
It is. The statutory floor for the allowance is 70% of the average wage (or the ordinary wage), and this subsidy's ceiling is 50%. The scheme fills part of the space below that floor once the Commission has approved going there - it does not replace the allowance.
Nothing at all under 30 days?
Nothing on the unpaid side - "30 days or more" is part of the definition. The paid subsidy may still fit if 20% of the month's contract hours are cut and money is paid for them. The two are not exclusive; their conditions simply differ.
When is "total insured workers" counted?
The text says only "total insured workers". Whether that is at filing or at the start of the measure is outside the text; art. 9 of the notice, which lets someone passing 90 days mid-measure be counted from the next day, suggests it is revisited month by month - check with the employment security office.
Sources
Korean Law Information Center, Employment Insurance Act - statute text (in force 20 Aug 2026) - the second sentence of art. 21(1) (where the money an employer pays falls to a level prescribed by decree because of an employment-security measure, support may be given to that worker as well).
Enforcement Decree of the Employment Insurance Act - decree text (in force 1 Jul 2026) - art. 21-3: (1) consultation with the representative, the four headcount brackets, 30 days or more, no money or under 50% of the average wage, the Commission's approval; (2) within 50% of the average wage, the per-person cap; (3) 180 days per person - and art. 68 (benefit-base ceiling of 113,500 won). Art. 21-3 took its present shape in the amendment of 6 May 2026.
Enforcement Rule of the Employment Insurance Act - rule text - art. 34(1) (the unpaid side's test: sales down 30% or more in the reference month, three-month averages each down 20% or more, or recognition by the head of the office; title amended 11 May 2026). The paid side's 15% is art. 24(1).
Ministry of Employment and Labor Notice No. 2026-30, on claiming and paying the retention subsidy - in force 12 May 2026 - art. 2(ii)(b) (the unpaid measure defined), art. 5 (the cap), art. 6(1)(ii),(3)(ii) (180 days per worker; three months to claim), art. 9 (workers passing 90 days mid-measure), art. 11 (unavoidable adjustment), art. 12 (the plan: 30 days ahead, the approval attached, worker confirmation, kept three years), art. 15 (approval; review panel, 60 to pass), art. 19 (changes, 10 days ahead), art. 20 (amount and period; training at 100,000 won a month), art. 21 (claiming, deduction, direct deposit to the worker).
Calculator verification. 756 combinations (seven workforce sizes including the 19, 20, 99, 100, 999 and 1,000 boundaries × three covered counts × four average wages × three lengths × three amounts paid) were checked against the statutory arithmetic in both languages - the minimum headcount, the daily average, the 50% and the cap, the ceiling after deduction, the days, the per-worker figure, the total and the presence of each of the five notes - and in every case the daily ceiling stayed at or below 68,100.
Left for another day
The settled amount. The text says only "within 50%" - how much, for how many days, is the office's call.
When "total insured workers" is counted. Outside the text.
What the review panel scores. The marking sheet in form 4 is not covered here.
Based on the 2026 provisions and notices. The 30 days, 180 days, 50%, headcount brackets, 30% and the 60-point pass mark are the statute's; the 50.0% and 10.1% shares, 4,086,070 and the example amounts are our arithmetic. The calculator returns a ceiling, not a settled amount, and does not judge eligibility - confirm on Work24 or with the Ministry of Employment and Labor call centre (1350).
