Unpaid Wages & Late-Payment Interest Calculator

You leave a job and the last month's pay, the severance, or an allowance never arrives. What you are owed at that point is not just the principal. Once the statutory settlement window closes, late-payment interest of 20% a year starts accruing on top of it, every day until the money is actually paid. Enter the unpaid amount and the number of days since you left, and this calculator shows the interest that has built up so far, how much it grows by each day, and the total claim of principal plus interest.

It shows one more thing. The right to claim wages disappears after 3 years, so the page also counts how many days remain before that limitation period runs out. That number is often more important than the interest. Once the period has passed, recovering even the principal becomes difficult.

Anyone who has left a job, has not been paid, and is deciding whether to file a complaint with the labour office. People tend to write only the principal on the complaint form or the demand letter. Writing the amount with interest included means nothing is left on the table when payment finally comes. If you are negotiating with the employer, this figure is your baseline, and knowing how much it grows per day makes it clear who loses by stalling.

It matters especially for foreign workers. Whatever your visa situation, wages for work already done are recoverable, and the interest accrues in exactly the same way. 근로기준법 제6조 forbids treating working conditions differently because of nationality. When the language barrier is high it is tempting to settle for the principal and be done, but it is worth knowing the real figure before you agree to anything.

It is also worth running if you left a long time ago. People genuinely do wait past the 3-year mark. If only a little time is left, the priority is to file, not to calculate.

근로기준법 제36조 requires an employer to pay all wages, compensation and other amounts within 14 days of a worker's departure or death. The parties can agree to extend that deadline, but if it passes without agreement, 제37조제1항 applies: from the day after the deadline until the day of payment, the employer owes late-payment interest at a rate set by Presidential Decree. That rate is fixed by 시행령 제17조 of the same Act at 20% a year.

The calculation goes like this. Take the days since you left and subtract 14; that is the number of days interest has run. Nothing accrues up to and including day 14, and counting starts the next day. Then multiply the principal by 20% and divide by 365 to get one day's interest. Multiply that by the number of interest days for the total interest, and add the principal for the claim. It is simple interest, so interest does not compound on interest.

The limitation period comes from 근로기준법 제49조: a wage claim lapses if it is not exercised within 3 years. The calculator converts 3 years into days and subtracts the days since you left to show what remains. Filing a complaint or a lawsuit interrupts the period, so the number on screen is what you have if you do nothing.

Say you are owed ₩3,000,000 and it has been 30 days since you left. The first 14 days fall inside the settlement window, so interest runs on the remaining 16. One day's interest is 20% of ₩3,000,000 divided by 365, which is ₩1,643. Sixteen days of that is ₩26,301, and adding the principal gives a claim of ₩3,026,301. You have 1,065 days left before the limitation period ends.

The interest is still modest at this point. If the employer drags it out for a year, the picture changes. At 379 days since leaving, interest has run for exactly 365 days: ₩600,000 in interest alone, and a claim of ₩3,600,000. That is the full 20% of the principal added on top. The rate is designed so that delay costs the party doing the delaying.

The most common mistake is claiming only the principal. If the complaint lists the principal alone, the interest has to be argued separately later. Put the figure with interest on it from the start. The second is applying this calculation to wages that fell behind while you were still employed. The 20% rate is for amounts left unsettled after you leave. Delays during employment are dealt with separately under 제37조제1항제2호, and where the grounds in 같은 조 제2항 apply, no interest is charged at all.

The third is forgetting the limitation period. While the employer keeps saying "soon", 3 years can pass and the right to claim simply ends. A verbal promise does not stop the clock. The fourth is withdrawing a complaint before the money arrives. Wage theft cannot be prosecuted against the worker's wishes, so employers sometimes make withdrawal a condition of settlement; you can withdraw after the transfer lands. Finally, this calculator covers statutory interest only. If the employer is insolvent or genuinely cannot pay, look into the substitute payment scheme under 임금채권보장법 separately.