An amendment to Korea’s labour and gender equality law came into effect on June 22, 2008.
The main revisions to the law are as follows:
- Parents may take one year’s unpaid leave each in consecutive periods to care for a child under 36 months old
- While on leave, parents will receive a monthly payment of KRW 500,000 (USD 463) from their employment insurance
- Fathers are eligible for three days of paternity leave, to be taken within 30 days of the child’s birth
- Mothers may decrease their working week to 15 hours (on provision of 30 days’ notice to their employers).
Previously, the right to take parental leave expired if it was not taken before the child reached its first birthday. This limitation has now been abolished.
Additionally, employers will be fined KRW 5 million (USD 4,630) if they do not authorise paternity leave and KRW 4 million (USD 3,704) if they are unable to provide satisfactory reasons for not allowing shorter working hours.
For more information, please visit www.korealife.com
- Parents may take one year’s unpaid leave each in consecutive periods to care for a child under 36 months old
- While on leave, parents will receive a monthly payment of KRW 500,000 (USD 463) from their employment insurance
- Fathers are eligible for three days of paternity leave, to be taken within 30 days of the child’s birth
- Mothers may decrease their working week to 15 hours (on provision of 30 days’ notice to their employers).
Previously, the right to take parental leave expired if it was not taken before the child reached its first birthday. This limitation has now been abolished.
Additionally, employers will be fined KRW 5 million (USD 4,630) if they do not authorise paternity leave and KRW 4 million (USD 3,704) if they are unable to provide satisfactory reasons for not allowing shorter working hours.
For more information, please visit www.korealife.com