Separate the wage bases before reconciling seafarer compensation
This Korea-specific 2026 calculator helps a seafarer or family compare the shipowner’s sickness and post-healing disability compensation after a duty-related injury or disease.
An ordinary workers’ compensation estimate can overlook the Seafarers Act’s wage bases, initial compensation rate and matched payment categories.
Use confirmed legal coverage and payroll evidence before treating the displayed amounts as claim references.
What to do with the result
Compare each monthly candidate with shipowner and insurer payment statements to identify a missing period or category.
Prepare the seafarer contract, onboard records, payroll, care diagnosis and official disability assessment, then save a TXT reconciliation for your claim discussion.
An entered confirmation does not determine legal coverage or establish a final payment decision.
Coverage and the 2026 seafarer minimum
Act Article 3 defines covered vessels and exceptions; working aboard a vessel does not automatically establish coverage.
Off-duty injuries, general workers’ compensation, policy-specific fishing insurance, survivors’ benefits and civil damages need separate review.
Automatic wage averaging is intended for an ordinary seafarer’s verified reference period without special rules.
General monthly floor
MOF Notice 2025-200 sets the general minimum at KRW 2,694,560 monthly, applicable January 1–December 31, 2026.
Article 96(3) requires sickness compensation to be brought up to the applicable seafarer minimum where the calculated amount is lower.
Compare the 70% wage amount with the minimum that actually applies to the individual.
Fishing, daily-paid and foreign exceptions
The notice states a fishing-seafarer minimum monthly fixed wage of KRW 3,184,540 for accident compensation and a monthly onboard average of KRW 5,572,940.
These have different purposes and are not automatically converted to general or daily values.
Co-resident family arrangements, nonemployee training, foreign collective agreements and daily-paid standards require verified daily average and custom monthly minimum entry.
The onboard wage window and exclusions
Article 2(12) divides wages paid during the onboard period before the reference event by its total days; if that period exceeds three months, use the latest three months.
The reference date itself is excluded, and a shorter actual onboard period is used when appropriate.
The dates and wage total must describe the same period.
Suggested reference dates
The start is the later of the boarding date and reference date minus three calendar months; the end is the day before the reference date.
Both window endpoints count toward calendar days.
Three months are not always 90 days, so reconcile payroll against the displayed dates.
Remove corresponding wages too
Decree Article 3-3 excludes days and wages for specified periods, including Article 54 injury or disease nonwork periods and training to become a seafarer.
Removing only days while retaining their wages distorts the average.
Temporary wage inclusions, daily-paid seafarers and cases where ordinary averaging cannot be performed need their own verified standards.
The applied daily average is no lower than the confirmed daily ordinary wage.
Monthly and daily ordinary wages are entered independently; there is no automatic monthly wage ÷ 30 conversion.
Prepare the conversion basis and inclusion records, and use confirmed adjusted amounts where Decree Article 3-4 requires wage adjustment.
Four-month boundary and partial care periods
Article 96(1) distinguishes 100% of ordinary wages for the first four months from 70% thereafter until healing.
The reference model adds four calendar months to the care start rather than substituting 120 days.
For care beginning 2026-04-01, the later-rate interval begins 2026-08-01.
Explicit proration assumption
The model divides care into calendar-month anniversary intervals and compares covered days with each full interval’s days.
Missing month-end dates are clamped only in the affected month; every boundary comes from the original start.
For 2026-01-31, later boundaries include 2026-02-28 and 2026-03-31, rather than drifting permanently to the 28th.
A partial candidate equals the monthly basis × covered days ÷ full interval days.
This is a stated comparison assumption, not a universal statutory proration rule; confirm the payer’s agreement and calculation.
The entered last covered date is inclusive. If care is ongoing, do not assume the separate post-healing disability condition is met.
One calculation supports continuous care wholly within 2026 at unchanged wages; do not combine another year or changing wage periods using today’s amount.
Formulas and the meaning of net receipt
Wage and compensation candidates
Calculated daily average = (total wages − excluded wages) ÷ (total days − excluded days)
Applied daily average = MAX(calculated daily average, confirmed daily ordinary wage)
Monthly sickness basis = MAX(monthly ordinary wage × 100% or 70%, applicable monthly minimum)
Partial candidate = monthly sickness basis × covered days ÷ full interval days
Disability candidate = applied daily onboard average × official lump-sum grade days
Match deductions within each category
Unpaid reference = MAX(0, candidate − matched prior payment − confirmed equivalent benefits)
Excess to reconcile = MAX(0, matched prior payment + confirmed equivalent benefits − candidate)
Article 103 concerns equivalent compensation for the same cause; match sickness and disability independently.
Do not deduct a single receipt twice or automatically transfer excess sickness payments against a disability shortfall.
Net receipt means unpaid matched compensation, not after-tax income or a prediction of tax and social-insurance deductions.
Intermediate averages and prorations remain unrounded; each displayed KRW value is independently rounded from its raw calculation.
This is display rounding, not an asserted statutory rounding rule. Verify the actual payer’s monthly or daily settlement conventions.
Official disability grades 1–14
Article 97 concerns residual disability after a duty-related injury or disease has healed.
Enter the official grade; the calculator does not diagnose disability from symptoms or a labor-capacity assessment.
The table uses the lump-sum days in Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act Annex 2, effective July 1, 2026, without copying the general industrial-insurance pension choice into this seafarer model.
Official lump-sum disability days from industrial Act Annex 2| Official grade | Lump-sum days |
|---|
| Grade 1 | 1,474 days |
| Grade 2 | 1,309 days |
| Grade 3 | 1,155 days |
| Grade 4 | 1,012 days |
| Grade 5 | 869 days |
| Grade 6 | 737 days |
| Grade 7 | 616 days |
| Grade 8 | 495 days |
| Grade 9 | 385 days |
| Grade 10 | 297 days |
| Grade 11 | 220 days |
| Grade 12 | 154 days |
| Grade 13 | 99 days |
| Grade 14 | 55 days |
An unassessed grade is not a zero benefit.
Without the required grade and healing confirmations, disability or combined balances remain pending; confirmed sickness compensation can still be reconciled separately.
Step-by-step preparation
- Verify Act coverage and duty-related injury using the seafarer contract and vessel and incident records.
Establish special fishing, daily-paid or foreign standards before using general averaging.
- Enter monthly and separately confirmed daily ordinary wages.
Enter reference and boarding dates, then sum the payroll wages for the exact proposed window.
- Reconcile excluded days with excluded wages.
Use verified daily average entry for special or adjusted cases rather than inventing a production-allowance percentage.
- Enter care dates and the applicable minimum.
Verify monthly boundaries and proration; if disability is selected, reconcile healing and the official assessment.
- Enter category-matched prior payments and equivalent benefits without duplicates.
Read candidates, unpaid balances, excess payments and pending checks separately.
- Mark the preparation checklist and save the TXT report or print it.
Personally submit the evidence to the shipowner or insurer and retain receipts and payment statements.
Worked example: six months and official grade 8
This is a fictional illustration, not a compensation promise.
Daily ordinary wages of KRW 130,000 are assumed to be independently verified.
Before the reference date 2026-04-01, the 2026-01-01–2026-03-31 window has 90 days. KRW 13,500,000 in wages yields an applied daily average of KRW 150,000.
Sickness reconciliation
Monthly ordinary wage KRW 3,900,000; care 2026-04-01–2026-09-30.
First four months: 3,900,000 × 4 = KRW 15,600,000.
Later two months: 2,730,000 × 2 = KRW 5,460,000.
Candidate KRW 21,060,000 minus prior payment KRW 5,000,000 and equivalent benefits KRW 1,000,000 gives unpaid sickness compensation of KRW 15,060,000.
Disability reconciliation
Official grade 8 after healing uses 495 days.
150,000 × 495 = KRW 74,250,000.
Prior payment KRW 10,000,000 and equivalent benefits KRW 2,000,000 leave KRW 62,250,000 unpaid.
With all entered conditions verified, the combined unpaid reference is KRW 77,310,000.
When the floor exceeds 70%
At monthly ordinary wages of KRW 3,000,000, 70% is KRW 2,100,000.
A confirmed general-minimum case instead uses KRW 2,694,560 for a complete later month.
Do not apply that example to an unverified special minimum.
Read pending, zero and excess separately
Valid amounts and dates do not establish coverage, wage evidence, the minimum, proration or matched deductions.
Where these remain unconfirmed, formula candidates can be inspected but unpaid balances stay pending.
An excluded scope produces no compensation result; verify the governing scheme first.
Evidence to review first
- If payments exceed a candidate, check duplicated receipts, their covered periods and categories.
- If the average seems low, review the wage window, excluded days and wages, and the daily ordinary-wage floor.
- If monthly amounts differ from statements, review the four-month boundary, partial-period denominator, minimum and wage changes.
Excess can reflect retroactive settlement, another covered loss or duplicate inputs; it does not establish repayment.
A zero balance applies only to the selected compensation and period, not to future care or all other benefits.
Practical scenarios and limits
Household planning during long care
Check the four-month transition against payment statements.
Do not count a hypothetical disability lump sum as already available living expenses before healing.
If comparable workers’ wages changed, request Decree Article 3-4 adjustment review; the statutory 105% or 95% triggers and next-month application need individual confirmation.
Preparing a post-healing disability claim
Review the official grade days and wage base separately using the assessment and averaging worksheet.
Do not choose a hypothetical grade merely because it produces a larger amount.
Check whether shipowner and insurer payments cover the same loss before deducting them.
A family member organizing records
Total wages, ordinary wages and onboard average wages can differ.
Use contracts and payroll to establish periods, exclusions and daily conversion before entering data.
Checklist marks are personal preparation notes; they do not file an insurance claim or preserve legal rights automatically.
Frequently asked questions
How does this differ from ordinary workers’ compensation?
This calculator concerns the shipowner’s duty-related compensation under Korea’s Seafarers Act.
Sickness compensation uses ordinary wages at 100% for the first four months and 70% thereafter, with the applicable minimum floor.
It does not substitute a general workers’ compensation temporary-disability formula.
Verify the governing law and insurance first.
What if the calculated onboard average is below ordinary wages?
Act Article 2(12) applies ordinary wages as the floor.
Compare daily amounts with daily amounts.
Enter a separately verified daily ordinary wage instead of assuming monthly wages divided by 30.
Reconcile missing wage items and excluded periods against payroll records.
Do four months mean 120 days?
Four calendar months do not always equal 120 days.
The reference boundary adds four calendar months to the care start.
Missing month-end dates are clamped to that month’s last day, and each later boundary is derived from the original start date.
Confirm the payer’s actual boundaries and settlement rules.
How is a partial care month calculated?
The displayed assumption multiplies the monthly basis by covered days divided by the full days in a care-start anniversary interval.
The last covered date is inclusive.
This is an explicit comparison assumption, not a claim that the statute mandates one universal proration rule.
Without confirmation of the settlement method, the unpaid balance stays pending.
Can fishing, foreign or daily-paid seafarers use the general minimum?
Verify fishing wage arrangements, daily-paid standards and foreign-seafarer exceptions first.
Special cases require independently verified daily onboard average wages and a confirmed custom monthly compensation minimum.
The fishing notice’s monthly values are not automatically divided by 30; collective-agreement exceptions are not presumed.
Prepare policy and agreement evidence.
Can I include disability before the official assessment?
The calculator does not infer a grade from symptoms or a labor-capacity percentage.
If disability is enabled but the grade is unassessed, the disability candidate and combined balance are withheld.
A known grade still requires confirmation of healing with residual disability and the official assessment.
Sickness can be reconciled separately.
Should all insurance proceeds and consolation damages be deducted?
Article 103 requires compensation-equivalent benefits for the same cause to be matched to their proper category.
Do not enter the same payment as both prior compensation and an equivalent benefit.
Medical expenses, consolation damages, private insurance and civil damages are not automatically deducted by their names.
Verify each payment’s covered loss and legal matching.
What do zero, pending and excess payments mean?
A confirmed zero unpaid balance means the entered matched payments cover the selected candidate for the entered period.
Pending means coverage or evidence has not been confirmed; it is not zero.
Excess payments need reconciliation for duplicate entries, periods and wage bases.
They are not an established repayment obligation.
Net receipt here is not after-tax income.
Official sources, dates and next action
Official OPEN API texts and the MOF notice attachment were checked October 13, 2026.
Seafarers Act MST290771 is effective October 2, 2026; Decree MST284017 March 17, 2026; Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act MST283459 Annex 2 July 1, 2026.
Daily-paid standards, fishing arrangements, exceptions, actual wage inclusions and adjustments need case-specific review.
Reconcile payroll and prior-payment records
Enter actual wages and care dates above and inspect monthly candidates first.
Resolve pending checks, assemble the contract, diagnosis, official grade and statements, then confirm claim details with the shipowner or insurer.
The saved report preserves assumptions and entered confirmation states. Recalculate when the evidence changes.