HR Tips
l Joint childcare leave benefits expanded
The existing "3+3 Joint Childcare Leave System" has been expanded to the "6+6 Joint Childcare Leave System" according to Article 95, Paragraph 3 of the Enforcement Decree of the Employment Insurance Act.
Under this expanded system, if both parents take their childcare leave concurrently or successively for the same child within 18 months of childbirth, the government provides childcare leave pay for both parents for the 6 months as summarized below
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Father takes childcare leave for 1 month |
Father takes childcare leave for 3 months |
Father takes childcare leave for 6 months |
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Mother takes childcare leave for 1 month |
Father: 200 Mother: 200 |
Father: 500 (200+150+150) Mother: 200 |
Father: 950 (200+150+150+150+150+150) Mother: 200 |
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Mother takes childcare leave for 3 months |
Father: 200 Mother: 500 (200+150+150) |
Father: 750 (200+250+300) Mother: 750 (200+250+300) |
Father: 1,200 (200+250+300+150+150+150) Mother: 750 (200+250+300) |
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Mother takes childcare leave for 6 months |
Father: 200 Mother: 950 (200+150+150+150+150+150) |
Father: 750 (200+250+300) Mother: 1,200 (200+250+300+150+150+150) |
Father: 1,950 (200+250+300+350+400+450) Mother: 1,950 (200+250+300+350+400+450 |
l Childcare leave benefit, eligibility and maximum split use allowed
Under Article 19-4(1) of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act of Korea, employees can split childcare leave into 3 periods (for example, 6 months +3 months + 3 months), but the total period of the childcare leave should not exceed one year in total (for one child). In addition, since November 19, 2021, employees are allowed to take childcare leave even during pregnancy. In such cases, the childcare leave used by a pregnant female employee shall not be included in counting the number of split uses of childcare leave. The relevant provisions are extracted as below.
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Article 19-4 (1) of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act,
(1) An employee may use childcare leave over several occasions, split into a
maximum of two periods. In such cases, the number of childcare leave used by
a pregnant female employee for maternity protection shall not be included
in the number of split uses of the childcare leave. |
We provide you with an example for better understanding as below.
- 1st period: A pregnant female employee takes childcare leave from Jan 1, 2024 ~ Jan 31, 2024 (for 1month)
- 2nd: A pregnant female employee takes childcare leave from March 1, 2024 ~ March 31, 2024 (for 1month)
- 3rd: A pregnant female employee takes childcare leave from May 1, 2024 ~ June 30, 2024 (for 2months)
- and the child is born on August 1, 2024
In this particular case, the childcare leave used prior to August 1, 2024 shall not be included in counting the number of split uses allowed, and hence, the remaining 8 months of the childcare leave period can still be utilized by splitting up to 3 periods (for example, 2 months +3 months + 3 months = 8 months in total).