Employers Who Skip a Wage Statement Face a Fine — Employees Can File a Labor Complaint

When did issuing a wage statement become a legal requirement?

Under Article 48(2) of Korea's Labor Standards Act and Article 27-2 of its Enforcement Decree, an employer must give an employee a wage statement — in writing, including electronic documents — every time wages are paid. The rule took effect on November 19, 2021. A printed paper copy isn't required; sending it via KakaoTalk, text message, or email counts as a written statement. Simply telling an employee verbally "this month you got X" does not satisfy the obligation.

What a wage statement must include

A wage statement must contain identifying details such as the employee's name, date of birth, and employee number; the pay date; the total wage amount; the amount for each pay component — base salary, various allowances, bonuses, and so on; the calculation method for wages, including overtime, night, and holiday work hours; and the amount of each deduction and the total deducted, covering taxes and insurance premiums. If even one of these items is missing, simply handing over a statement isn't enough — that's treated as a separate violation for incomplete content.

How much is the fine for not issuing one — a tiered schedule

If an employer never issues a wage statement at all, the fine per affected employee runs KRW 300,000 for a first violation, KRW 500,000 for a second, and KRW 1,000,000 from a third violation onward. Article 116 of the Labor Standards Act sets the statutory ceiling at up to KRW 5,000,000, and the actual amount imposed rises step by step within that ceiling depending on how many times the violation repeats. Worth noting: if multiple employees are affected at the same time, the fine is calculated separately for each one, not as a single lump sum.

Issuing one that's incomplete or inaccurate is a violation too

Even if a company technically hands over a statement, if the calculation method or deduction details are missing or don't match reality, that also counts as a violation. In this case the fine schedule is lower than for a total failure to issue — KRW 200,000 for a first violation, KRW 300,000 for a second, and KRW 500,000 for a third — but it still climbs with repetition. Situations like "they only gave me the total" or "there was no deduction breakdown, just the take-home amount" fall into this category.

Workplaces with fewer than 5 employees aren't exempt

Some provisions of the Labor Standards Act don't apply to workplaces with fewer than five regular employees, but the wage-statement obligation is not on that exemption list. Being a small business is not a valid reason to skip it, and doing so is its own separate violation. Part-time workers and those on very short hours are covered too, as long as they're being paid wages.

What an employee can do — filing a complaint with the labor authority

If the company keeps refusing even after being asked, an employee can file a complaint online through the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Labor Portal, or submit it in person or by mail to the regional labor office with jurisdiction over the workplace. The Labor Portal accepts filings around the clock once you log in with a certified digital ID or simple authentication through KakaoTalk or Naver, and you get a text message confirming receipt. A case where the employer never issued a written employment contract can be filed through the same channel, so if both issues overlap, it's more efficient to file them together in one complaint.

What happens after a complaint is filed

Once a complaint is assigned as a case, a labor inspector typically sends a notice to appear to both the employer and the employee within one to two weeks. It helps to bring documentation showing you were paid wages but never received a proper statement — things like the employment contract, bank transfer records showing wage deposits, or screenshots of texts and KakaoTalk messages from the company. If the inspector confirms a violation, the usual sequence is a corrective order first; only if the employer fails to comply, or the violation repeats, does it move on to an actual fine. If wages themselves have gone unpaid, that's a separate issue from a missing statement, and you should also check into the wage substitute-payment program, and it's worth knowing about the stronger penalties now applying to employers who repeatedly withhold wages.

Putting the sequence together

1) On payday, check whether you received a statement and whether it has every required item. 2) If it's missing or incomplete, ask HR again in writing — a text message or email counts. 3) If they still don't provide it, file online through the Labor Portal or submit in person or by mail to the regional labor office. 4) Gather supporting documents such as your employment contract and bank transfer records. 5) Cooperate with the investigation when the labor inspector requests your appearance. That's the order to follow. A case where missing paperwork from the employer blocks a separate process — an unemployment benefit claim held up because the employer never submitted a separation certificate — follows a similar structure and is worth reading alongside this one.

This article is a general overview based on the Labor Standards Act, its Enforcement Decree, and Ministry of Employment and Labor guidance in effect as of August 2026, and it does not substitute for legal advice. Whether a fine applies in a specific case, and the exact amount, is determined by the relevant regional labor office.