ENGLISH

Work and Family Life
Target and period of childcare leave
Target
Where a pregnant female employee or an employee applies for a leave of absence (hereinafter referred to as "childcare leave") in order to enjoy maternity protection or to raise his or her children (including adopted children) aged eight years or younger or in the second grade or lower of elementary school, respectively, their employer shall grant permission therefor (the Main Text of Article 19(1) of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act).
Period of childcare leave
The period of parental leave shall not exceed 1 year (main sentence of Article 19(2) of 「Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act」).
However, where an employee falls under any of the following, an additional parental leave of up to six months may be used (proviso to Article 19(2) of 「Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act」).
· Either the father or the mother, if both parents have taken parental leave of at least three months each for the same child
· Either the father or the mother as defined under Subparagraph 1 of Article 4 of 「Single-Parent Family Support Act」
· Either the father or the mother of a child with disabilities as prescribed by 「Enforcement Rule of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act」
· An employee may divide and use parental leave up to three times, and the number of parental leave used by pregnant employees for maternity protection shall not be included in the number of divided use of parental leave (latter part of Article 19-4(1) of 「Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act」).
Sanctions for violations
Employers who do not allow childcare leave even though they have received childcare leave from employees will be fined up to KRW 5 million (Article 37 (4), subparagraph 4 of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act).
※ The period of service during childcare leave
Q. Our company is considering the length of service as a requirement for promotion. If I use childcare leave, will the period be excluded from the service period?
A. As there is a childcare leave system to protect the childcare environment of children, the law guarantees that the period of use of childcare leave is included in the period of service, even if it is not the days of actual work (latter part of Article 19 (4) of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act).
In other words, the employee’s service period is calculated when promotion, severance pay, and the number of days of annual paid leave is calculated. The period of childcare leave is recognized as a period of service.
※ In the case of calculating the number of days of annual paid leave, it will apply to employees who apply for childcare leave after May 29, 2018 (Article 2 of Addendum of the Labor Standards Act).