🌿 Essential words you must know when working part-time in Korea

Are you nervous about looking for your first part-time job or starting work in Korea? 😢

Even if you can speak some Korean, many people worry about making mistakes because they get confused by contract terms or short words used at stores.

We will easily organize the basic words you must know before working at a cafe or restaurant! ✨

📄 Most important contract word: hourly wage

Have you ever been confused by difficult words in the contract? If you do not write a work contract in writing, the owner can be fined up to 5 million KRW, so you must write it.

• Hourly wage: The money you earn for one hour of work.

• As of 2026, the minimum hourly wage in Korea is 10,320 KRW per hour! (It increased 2.9% from 10,030 KRW in 2025)

• Please make sure to check hourly wage, workdays, start time, payday, etc. in your contract.

👉 The first step to protecting your rights is checking your contract!

⏰ Easily confused words: working hours and break time

International students who wondered, 'Why is my pay different even though I worked 6 hours?' please pay attention! It is important to distinguish between total stay time and actual working hours.

• Working hours (agreed working hours): The time you have agreed to work in the store.

• Break time: Free time to rest while working. It is usually not included in wage calculation.

• According to labor law, if you work 4 hours you must take at least a 30-minute break, and if you work 8 hours you must take at least 1 hour off during work.

👉 Understanding what break time means makes wage calculation much easier!

🧹 Store work words: open and close

You often see 'open' or 'close' on job ads, right? They're not official labor law terms but are used daily at convenience stores and restaurants.