An effective date is not a calendar date — how the same January 1, 2027 lands on different days for different people

The same January 1, 2027. For some people the money changes that very day, while others find out only a year later. Same date, different moment of impact. An effective date is not a calendar date. It is the day your turn comes. Here are six upcoming changes in date order, all already enacted, all with fixed dates.

There are three lines: this November, next January, and beyond. The confusion is natural, because one effective date can be triggered by different things: some changes attach to hours worked, others to a year's income. Anything only announced but not passed by the National Assembly, and anything without a set date, is left out, because you cannot put a dot on the map without a date.

The first line is November 27 this year: fertility-treatment leave. Today only some of the days you can take in a year are paid; from November 27 the paid days double from 2 to 4. The total number of days stays the same. Only the split between paid and unpaid days changes. On ₩3M monthly pay the ordinary daily wage is ₩100,000, so you receive ₩200,000 now and ₩400,000 from November 27. It is triggered by the day you take the leave. The cost is split between the employer and employment-insurance support, and the support cap is set by notice and changes every year. A different salary means a different daily figure.

The second line is January 1 next year, where three changes cluster. First, the one that changes immediately: the minimum wage. The hourly rate goes from ₩10,320 to ₩10,700. On a 40-hour week the monthly figure including weekly holiday pay goes from ₩2,156,880 to ₩2,236,300, up ₩79,420 a month. It applies to hours worked on or after January 1, and hours worked the day before are paid at the old rate. Probationers can be paid 90% for up to 3 months, which is still ₩9,630. The minimum wage applies to every workplace regardless of headcount, so this item reaches the most people. Because it is set as an hourly rate, checking whether a salary clears it means converting back to an hourly figure. Divide by the wrong number of hours and a violation stays invisible.

Two changes on the same day have a different character. Crypto gains become taxable. Today the tax is ₩0 whatever you earn; from next year, gains above ₩2.5M in a year are taxed on the excess at 20% income tax plus local income tax, 22% in total. On ₩10M of gains, ₩7.5M is taxable after the ₩2.5M deduction and the tax is ₩1.65M. This effective date has been postponed 3 times. The law was written in 2020 and pushed back by amending its addenda, and as of now the date is January 1 next year. The child tax credit is the same kind: the minimum age rises from 9 to 10, so one child aged 9 gets ₩250,000 today and ₩0 from next year's year-end settlement. The amount is not cut. The child drops out of scope. What these two share is that no money leaves your account on January 1. The result shows up when the year is settled, so you feel it late, which also means you have time to prepare.

The third line is further out. From June 10, 2027, annual leave can be taken by the hour. The number of leave days stays the same; you can split a day instead of using it whole. The hourly unit is to be set by Decree, which has not yet been issued. It applies to workplaces with 5 or more employees. On January 1, 2028, the unemployment-benefit base changes from the last 3 months' average wage to 12 months of reported pay. People whose allowances were concentrated in the last 3 months will see a different calculation. But the daily benefit has a ceiling and a floor only ₩2,052 apart this year, so anyone at the ceiling will see little change even after the base switches.

Memorizing the date is only half of it. Changes triggered by hours worked arrive that day; changes triggered by a year's income arrive the next year. Miss it and the minimum wage rises while your pay is still computed at the old rate, the child credit disappears at year-end before you notice, and a missed crypto filing adds penalties. Two things to do now: mark which line each item that applies to you sits on, and check what triggers it. This card is as of 2026-08-30; rules can still change before they take effect, and the parts left to Decree are filled in later.