Wage, Allowance, and Contract Expressions

Wage Payment and Monthly Salary Vocabulary

Wages are the money that an employer pays to a worker in return for labor, and wages paid on a fixed monthly basis are called 월급(monthly salary). When answering a question about monthly salary, first check what the question asks. A question about when you receive your monthly salary should be answered with a date or a point in time. Mentioning the workplace, a meal, or the time you started working does not match the question.

The payment schedule is set according to what the labor contract states, so when you relay what the document says, use '-다고 적혀 있다'(it is written that ...). Example: 계약서에 월급은 매달 말일에 준다고 적혀 있어요.(The contract says that the monthly salary is paid at the end of every month.)

When the monthly salary is deposited into your bank account, it is expressed as '입금되다'(to be deposited) or '들어오다'(to come in). The statement '월급이 아직 통장에 들어오지 않았다'(The monthly salary has not yet come into my account.) means that payment has been delayed. In this case, it is natural to ask about the date on which payment was originally scheduled.

Some monthly salaries pay for work done in one month during the following month, so you must distinguish the month in which the work was done from the month in which the pay is received. Once the payment date changes, the new date becomes the day on which the monthly salary is received from then on.

An allowance is money paid separately, in addition to the base pay, according to specific working conditions. Overtime allowance and extra-work allowance are representative examples. Because overtime allowance depends on the number of overtime hours, it is calculated by multiplying the hourly amount by the overtime hours. In formula form, 야근 수당(overtime allowance) = 시간당 금액(hourly rate) × 야근 시간(overtime hours).

Even if the base pay is the same, the total monthly salary differs when the allowance amounts differ, so when comparing this month's salary with last month's, check the allowance items first. A decrease in overtime hours, which reduces the overtime allowance, is the most typical cause.