Penalties for Low Attendance in Government-Funded Certificate Courses

Standards for Attendance Recognition and Mandatory Completion Requirements in Government-Funded Programs

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1. Standards for Attendance Recognition and Mandatory Completion Requirements in Government-Funded Programs

When you start taking a certificate preparation course or job training program through government funding (National Tomorrow Learning Card), the phrase you will hear most often is definitely, “Make sure you manage your attendance properly.”

Many people run into serious trouble after casually thinking, “It’s fine to take a day off,” or “Being a little late won’t hurt.” Because government funding uses the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s budget to subsidize training costs, attendance rules are enforced far more strictly than at standard private academies.

Here is a summary of the core criteria you must know in order to successfully complete your course!

📌 The Absolute Completion Formula: Attend at Least 80% of Prescribed Training Days

There is just one minimum requirement to properly finish (complete) a government-funded program:

“Attend 80% or more of the total prescribed training days!”

Simply put, if your absences exceed 20% of the total training period, you will unconditionally receive a non-completion (dropout) status.

• Example 1) When total training days are 20 days (short-term course):

• 80% requires 16 days of attendance
• You can complete the course with up to 4 days of absence, but the moment you miss 5 days, you fail to complete!
• Example 2) When total training days are 100 days (long-term bootcamp/certificate course):

• 80% requires 80 days of attendance
• If your absences exceed 20 days, all the hours you spent studying up to that point will go to waste.

What you must note here is that this is based on ‘days,’ not ‘hours.’ Missing an entire day is deducted directly as 1 day of absence.

⏱ The “Three Strikes” Rule for Tardy Arrivals, Early Departures, and Leaves During Class

Thinking carelessly, “Being tardy isn’t an absence, so it must be fine,” is very risky. Under Ministry of Employment and Labor regulations, tardy arrivals, early departures, and leaves during class accumulate and convert into absences.

• A combined total of 3 tardy arrivals, early departures, or leaves during class = Treated as 1 day of absence

For example, if you were late 2 times and left early once for a clinic visit this month, it is the same as having accumulated 1 full day of absence.

In particular, make sure to remember these two rules!

1. When attending less than 50% of prescribed daily training hours:

Even if recorded as a tardy arrival or early departure, if you leave without attending at least half (50%) of that day’s scheduled hours, it is not treated as a tardy arrival/early departure—it is immediately treated as an ‘absence’ for that day. (Example: If you only attend 3 hours of an 8-hour daily class and leave early, it counts as 1 day of absence)

1. Managing leaves during class:

Even when briefly leaving class for bank errands or personal matters, checking in via the HRD-Net app, beacon, or QR code is mandatory. If you are caught leaving your seat without authorization, it may be deemed fraudulent attendance.

💡 Difference Between ‘Unit Period Attendance Rate’ vs. ‘Overall Completion Attendance Rate’

One concept that many people find confusing is the unit period.

For example, in a 6-month long-term course, your attendance rate must exceed 80% each month (every 1 unit period) to receive that month’s training incentive (approximately up to 116,000 KRW to 200,000 KRW).

Even if you exceed 80% over the entire period and qualify to complete the certificate, if you have frequent absences in a specific month and fall below 80%, not even 1 won of that month’s allowance will be paid; therefore, monthly short-term management is also essential.

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3 Key Penalties That Occur When Attendance Rate Is Insufficient

Surprisingly, many people think lightly, saying, “If I don’t reach an 80% attendance rate, isn’t it just that I don’t receive the certificate of completion?”

However, due to the nature of vocational training operated with tax funds, government support brings real financial losses and administrative penalties beyond simple non-completion. Here is a summary of the 3 major penalties that occur immediately to students when their attendance rate falls short.

1. Monthly Training Incentive ‘Not Paid in Full’ (Processed as 0 KRW)

One of the benefits that serves as great motivation when taking a government-funded course (long-term course of 140 hours or more, for job seekers) is the monthly training incentive (intended for meal and transportation costs).

• Payment condition: Attend at least 80% of the prescribed training days in each unit period (1 month)
• When attendance falls short: Training incentive for that unit period is not paid in full (0 KRW)

The key here is that “it is not calculated on a daily pro-rata basis.”

For example, if you attended only 15 out of 20 days of class in a month and your attendance rate became 75%, it is not “they will at least give the portion for 15 days,” but rather not even 1 won of the entire incentive for that month will be deposited. Because even a single day shortage from falling below 80% due to accumulated tardiness or early departures wipes out the entire allowance, managing your attendance at the end of the month is crucial.

1. No Refund on Out-of-Pocket Payment and Processed as Dropout (Expulsion)

Depending on the course type, government-funded lectures may operate a system where students pay a certain percentage of ‘out-of-pocket costs’ upfront and get the full amount or a portion refunded if they diligently complete the course (or obtain a certificate / get a job).

• Refund cancellation: If you receive a non-completion status due to falling below an 80% attendance rate, you fail to meet the refund requirements, making it impossible to get any of the already paid out-of-pocket money back.
• Risk of forced expulsion (dropout):

• Consecutive absences: If you are absent for 5 or more consecutive days without a valid reason or prior documentation, you will be immediately processed for mid-course expulsion even if time remains in the overall period.
• Exceeding cumulative absences: The moment your absence days exceed 20% of the total training days (the point at which reaching 80% is no longer possible even with full future attendance), you are definitively confirmed as a ‘dropout’ in academy administration, making participation in classes for the remaining period entirely impossible.

1. National Tomorrow Learning Card Limit Reduction & Course Registration Restrictions

If you receive a final non-completion (dropout) status due to an insufficient attendance rate, a critical penalty is imposed not only on the course you are currently taking, but also when taking other government-funded training programs in the future.

According to Ministry of Employment and Labor regulations, the support limit of the Learning Card is directly deducted based on the number of dropouts.

The basic support limit of the National Tomorrow Learning Card is around 3 million to 5 million KRW, but if just 1 or 2 dropouts accumulate due to unfaithful attendance, hundreds of thousands of KRW in government subsidies are permanently reduced, causing you to face a massive out-of-pocket payment bomb later when you actually want to take another professional certificate course or job training program.

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“What If You Had No Choice But to Be Absent?” Exception Reasons for Attendance Recognition and Documentation Tips

Life doesn’t always go strictly as planned. There are bound to be times when you must miss class due to unavoidable circumstances such as sudden flu, accidents, family weddings or funerals, or reserve forces training.

If you blindly fail to show up to the academy at times like this, it is treated straight as an ‘absence,’ but if you prepare valid reasons recognized under Ministry of Employment and Labor regulations along with supporting documents, you can receive an ‘excused absence (attendance recognition).’ Here is a summary of the exception criteria you must secure to protect your 80% attendance rate.

📌 Key Excused Absence Reasons and Recognized Days Acknowledged by the Ministry of Employment and Labor

The statutory reasons for which an absence can be recognized as attendance during government-funded training courses are clearly defined.

• One’s own illness or injury (hospitalization/outpatient care)

• Recognized when participation in class is impossible due to illness.
• Even for 1-day outpatient care due to a simple cold or similar condition, a hospital medical treatment confirmation sheet or prescription is mandatory; for long-term hospitalization, recognized days are determined based on a physician’s medical certificate.
• Military service obligations (reserve forces/civil defense training, draft physical examination)

• Full attendance is recognized for the duration required by training or examination.
• Family events and personal milestones (family and self)

• Own marriage: 5 days
• Child’s marriage: 1 day
• Spouse’s childbirth: 5 days
• Death of direct ascendants or descendants (parents, spouse, etc.): 5 days
• Death of grandparents/maternal grandparents: 2 days
• National qualification examinations and recruitment tests

• The day of taking practical/written exams for national technical qualifications or accredited certificates
• Participating in actual corporate job interviews for job-seeking activities (prior verification with the academy required)
• Force majeure events such as natural disasters

• Traffic disruption due to heavy snowfall or downpours, court summons, etc.

📄 Mandatory Supporting Documents and the Golden Window for Submission

Approval for excused absence is never granted merely through verbal notification. Because administrative proof must be uploaded to the Employment Center computer network (HRD-Net), preparing documents is vital.

⚠️ Document submission deadline (Golden window):

You must submit them to the academy administrative office usually within 3 days from the date the cause ends (the date you can return to school), or before the closing of the relevant unit period at the latest. Once a unit period has already closed and computerized data has been transferred, retroactive application is impossible no matter how clear your documents are.

📱 How to Deal with HRD-Net QR Code and Beacon Recognition Errors

Nowadays, most government-funded academies handle check-ins and check-outs via QR code scanning or Bluetooth beacons on the smartphone ‘HRD-Net’ app. However, situations often arise where a mobile phone battery runs out, or check-in processing is omitted due to GPS/Bluetooth errors.

1. Notify the instructor or administrative office immediately upon error:

If you only say “My check-in wasn’t scanned this morning” upon leaving, modifying attendance records becomes extremely tricky. If the app fails to recognize you, inform the campus staff member immediately and sign the manual attendance ledger.

1. Beware of missing the check-out scan:

Even if you scanned check-in properly, leaving for home after class ends without scanning the check-out QR code results in being marked as an ‘absence’ or ‘early departure’ for that day. Be sure to visually verify the check-out completion stamp on the app screen right before stepping out the door after class ends.

1. Securing proof in case of terminal malfunction:

If app authentication stops due to an academy-wide network outage or similar issues, you can follow procedures such as checking campus announcements and filling out the emergency attendance ledger, so do not panic and simply follow the campus administrative protocol.

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Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

While taking a government-funded course, everyone experiences ambiguous and awkward situations related to attendance at least once. Here is a clear summary of the 4 core questions that trainees ask most often to administrative offices and community forums.
Q1. I already have many absences, so my attendance rate for this month fell below 80%. Is it better to voluntarily drop out (withdraw from the course) even now?
A. If you are in a position where you can still complete the course by meeting the ‘overall attendance rate of 80%’ over the remaining period, never drop out voluntarily.
Insufficient attendance for a unit period: Only this month’s training incentive (allowance) will be processed as 0 KRW; you are not dropped from the entire training course. If you attend diligently again starting next month, next month’s allowance will be paid normally.
Penalties for voluntary mid-course withdrawal: If you apply to drop out on your own (fill out a withdrawal form), it is immediately deemed as 1 dropout, and a penalty reducing your Learning Card limit by 200,000 KRW is applied right away.
Conclusion: If you can exceed the ‘overall cumulative attendance rate of 80%’ by the course completion date provided that you attend without future absences, it is administratively far more advantageous to finish the course to the end and achieve official ‘completion’ status, even if you give up this month’s allowance.
Q2. I got a job while taking the training! Will it be treated as a mid-course withdrawal and result in penalties?
A. Early departure due to employment falls under a ‘valid reason,’ so mid-course dropout penalties such as card limit deductions do not occur.
Because the ultimate goal of government-funded vocational training itself is ’employment for trainees,’ early employment is rather encouraged.
Early completion criteria (completing 50% or more of total training hours):
If you gained employment after attending 50% or more of the total training period (hours), it is recognized as official ‘early completion’ rather than a dropout. In this case, you can receive a certificate of completion as well as satisfy the conditions for out-of-pocket payment refunds.
Employment after completing less than 50%:
Although completion is not granted, if you submit employment verification documents such as a certificate of employment and employment insurance subscription records to the academy, it is processed as ‘course termination due to employment,’ and penalties are exempted.
Mandatory action: Once your employment is confirmed, you must notify the academy staff before your first day of work and submit your employment contract and certificate of employment so that excused absence and early employment procedures can proceed normally.
Q3. I absentmindedly forgot to scan my check-out when heading home. Is there really no way to get relief?
A. In principle, an unscanned check-out on the day is processed as an absence or early departure, but you can receive relief through an explanation procedure (attendance change request) according to academy rules.
Right to apply for attendance modification: Under Ministry of Employment and Labor guidelines, the recognized number of unscanned check-outs due to trainee negligence is strictly limited (typically around 1–2 times) during the training period.
How to provide proof: You must submit an ‘attendance recognition (attendance change) application form’ to the academy administrative office, accompanied by data proving that you participated normally in class that day (request to check classroom CCTV, instructor’s confirmation of class participation, academy PC login records, etc.).
Precautions: If you keep putting it off, the computer network will close, so visit the administrative office immediately upon noticing the missed check-in/out (right after arriving the next day) to request attendance correction processing.
Q4. Does the 80% attendance rate rule apply equally to remote (non-face-to-face/online) lectures?
A. Yes, it applies in completely the same manner. However, tracking methods are operated through ‘progress rate’ and ‘completion deadlines.’
Learning progress rate: You must actually watch at least 80–100% of the prescribed playback time for each session (lecture) to be recognized as present for that corresponding date.
Strict compliance with unit period deadlines: If you fail to take lectures within the designated week or unit period, it is collectively processed as an ‘absence.’
Anti-fraud CAPTCHA: To prevent proxy attendance, online lectures frequently display identity verification windows or automatic prevention CAPTCHAs in the middle of class; therefore, you must be careful because if you play it and step away, time will lapse and progress will stall, which may lead to being marked absent.
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