Amendments to laws for childcare support

On October 22, the Korean government promulgated amendments to three laws for childcare support (i.e., the Equal Employment and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, the Employment Insurance Act, and the Labor Standards Act) to promote work-life-family balance.

The following are the key amendments. Unless otherwise specified, they will take effect on February 23, 2025.

1. Childcare Leave

To encourage both parents to participate more actively in childcare, if both parents take at least 3 months of childcare leave for the same child, or if they are a single parent or a parent of a child with severe disabilities, the childcare leave period can be extended from 1 year to 18 months. In addition, childcare leave can be split into up to four periods (three times division).

2. Paternity Leave

The paternity leave period has been extended from 10 days to 20 days. For employees in small and medium-sized companies classified as preferential supported enterprises (“우선지원대상기업” in Korean), the government’s paternity leave pay benefit has been expanded from the previous 5 days to cover the full 20 days of paternity leave.

Additionally, previously, employees were required to request paternity leave within 90 days of their spouse’s childbirth. However, the application period has been extended to 120 days, and employees can now divide the paternity leave into up to four separate periods for use.

3. Reduced working hours for pregnancy and childcare leave period

1) Reduced working hours during childcare

The eligible age for reduced working hours during childcare will be raised from a child of 8 years old (or attending the second grade) to 12 years old (or attending the sixth grade). Additionally, any unused childcare leave can be converted into reduced working hours, with twice the unused leave period added to the reduced working hours (e.g., childcare leave of 1 year + unused childcare leave of 12 months x 2). Thus, employees who have not used any of their childcare leave can use reduced working hours for up to a maximum of 3 years. Additionally, the minimum duration for using childcare leave has also been reduced from three months to one month, allowing more flexibility and enabling it to be utilized for short-term childcare needs, such as during school vacations.

2) Reduced working hours during pregnancy

To protect from the risks of miscarriage and preterm birth, the period for reduced working hours during pregnancy has been expanded from the current “within 12 weeks and after 36 weeks of pregnancy” to “within 12 weeks and after 32 weeks” of pregnancy. Especially, high-risk pregnant women, such as those with early contractions or multiple pregnancies, can use reduced working hours throughout the entire pregnancy period with a doctor's diagnosis.

3) Annual leave calculation (effect immediately from the date of its announcement, Oct 24, 2024)

Previously, the period of childcare leave was legally considered a period of attendance at work, so full annual leave days were granted in accordance with the Labor Standards Act, just like other regular employees. However, during pregnancy and childcare periods, the reduced working hours used were included in the calculation of annual leave days in proportion to the actual hours worked. Under the revised law, reduced working hours during pregnancy and childcare are now included in the calculation of annual leave days, resolving this disadvantage.

The revised law regarding annual leave will take effect immediately from the date of its announcement, Oct 24, 2024.

4. Maternity leave (for the premature birth of the baby requiring hospitalization in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (“NICU”)

The maternity leave period will be extended from 90 days to 100 days in case of premature birth of the baby requiring hospitalization in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (“NICU”).

5. Subfertility treatment leave

Currently, subfertility treatment leave is allowed for 3 days per year, with only 1 day provided as paid leave. With the law revisions, subfertility treatment leave will be extended to 6 days per year, and the paid leave will be increased to 2 days. Additionally, the government will introduce a new salary support program to ease the burdens of employees and employers in SMEs classified as preferential supported enterprises (“우선지원대상기업” in Korean), helping to alleviate the burden during the employees' subfertility treatment leave.