In South Korea, the drafting of the employment contract commits the payroll for its whole duration: the language used, the form adopted and the mandatory particulars are fixed by local law, not by the practice of head office.
Termination is the moment when drafting errors are paid for. Final settlement, notice, severance and exit documents obey local rules that the payroll manager applies every month: it is that person, and not the legal department at head office, who spots a poorly drawn contract. Having the model contract reviewed by the firm that will run the payroll costs little and avoids most disputes.
Statutory severance is the leading peculiarity of Korean payroll: it falls due on departure regardless of the reason, and it is funded either through a provision or through a corporate retirement plan. A foreign employer discovering it when an employee resigns is discovering a liability that should have been accruing from day one.
Then comes the seal. Commitments are sealed and evidenced by a corporate seal certificate: an agreement bearing an unregistered seal rests on weak legal ground.
Tax verification of a provider is a two-part exercise. Korea distinguishes national tax from local tax, each with its own portal and its own no-arrears certificate. A file should be accepted only with both, since a single certificate leaves the check incomplete. All three are matters to settle at the outset rather than at the point of departure.
Trois particularités à retenir. D'abord, tout se joue sur le sceau : le 법인인감증명서 est en Corée l'équivalent fonctionnel d'un pouvoir de signature, et un contrat scellé d'un sceau non enregistré est fragile. Ensuite, les attestations fiscales sont dédoublées entre impôt national (Hometax) et impôt local (Wetax) — n'accepter le dossier qu'avec les deux. Enfin, méfiance sur les appellations : « 노무법인 » désigne un cabinet de 공인노무사 et « 세무법인 » un cabinet de 세무사, mais « 아웃소싱 » ou « 페이롤 대행 » ne recouvre aucune licence et est fréquemment employé par des prestataires purement techniques. Point non vérifié faute de source officielle accessible : la durée exacte de validité du 납세증명서 et du 4대보험 완납증명서 est indiquée ici à titre d'usage (30 jours) et devra être confirmée sur la pièce elle-même, qui porte sa propre date limite d'utilisation.
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