"Substitution of holidays" refers to a situation where an employee works on a designated holiday but takes a day off on a regular workday instead.

However, to make such a substitution legally valid, the relevant legal provisions and court precedents must be followed. In practice, many employers fail to implement holiday substitution in a lawful manner. Let’s take a closer look at the applicable rules.

 

Substitution of Weekly Paid Holiday
1. What is a Weekly Paid Holiday?

According to Article 55(1) of the Korean Labor Standards Act (LSA), an employer must provide at least one paid holiday per week to employees who have worked all scheduled working days for that week. Many companies designate Sunday as the weekly paid holiday for office workers. This paid day off, even though employees do not work on it, is referred to as the "weekly paid holiday."

2. Methods of Substitution

If an employee must work on the designated weekly paid holiday, the substitution should meet the following requirements:

① Employee's consent (or a provision in a collective agreement, rules of employment, etc.)
② Advance notice specifying the substituted holiday (at least 24 hours in advance)

Regarding how far in advance the substituted holiday should be specified, the Ministry of Employment and Labor's administrative interpretation (Policy on Working Conditions, No. 875, January 30, 2013) advises that "when substituting a holiday in advance, the employer should notify employees of the reason and details at least 24 hours before and go through a sufficient consultation process with the employees."

3. Legal Effect of Substitution

Since the weekly paid holiday and a regular workday are exchanged on a 1:1 basis, the original weekly paid holiday becomes a regular workday, and the substituted day becomes the holiday.
Thus, when an employee works on the originally designated weekly paid holiday, the employer is not obligated to pay holiday work allowances. However, if the employee works on the newly substituted holiday due to unavoidable circumstances, the employer must pay the holiday work allowance.

 

 

Substitution of Statutory Public Holidays
Article 55(2) of the Korean Labor Standards Act

1. What are Statutory Public Holidays?

Statutory public holidays refer to holidays established by law. Specifically, public holidays are defined in Articles 2 and 3 of the "Regulations on Public Holidays of Government Offices." This includes commonly recognized public holidays ("red days") and substitute public holidays.

2. Methods of Substitution

According to Article 55(2) of the Labor Standards Act, the substitution of statutory public holidays must meet the following requirements:

① Written agreement with the employee representative
② Advance notice specifying the substituted holiday (at least 24 hours in advance)

As with the weekly paid holiday, the substituted day must be specified in advance and notified to the employees.

3. Legal Effect of Substitution

The effect is the same! When an employee works on the original statutory public holiday, the employer is not required to pay holiday work allowances. However, if the employee works on the newly substituted holiday, the employer must pay the appropriate holiday work allowance.