KB News Desk
South Korea will officially introduce short-term parental leave of one or two weeks from Thursday, aimed at helping parents cope with sudden or short-term gaps in childcare.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the new system will take effect Thursday as revised enforcement decrees under the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act and the Employment Insurance Act come into force.
Under Korean law, workers can take parental leave to care for children aged eight or younger or in the second grade of elementary school or below. Employers are required to grant parental leave to eligible workers who have worked for the company for at least six months.
Parental leave can last for up to one year per parent in principle, with the period extended to up to 18 months for workers who meet certain conditions.
While parental leave could already be used in shorter periods, leave of less than 30 days was not eligible for parental leave benefits. Workers were also allowed to split their parental leave no more than three times.
This made it difficult for some parents to use parental leave for sudden, short-term childcare needs, such as when a child becomes ill or a childcare center or school closes unexpectedly.
Under the new system, parents can choose to take seven or 14 days of short-term parental leave once a year for each child. The period will be deducted from their total parental leave entitlement but will not count toward the limit on splitting parental leave.
Workers will also be eligible for parental leave benefits during the short-term leave.
The benefit is calculated based on the worker’s ordinary wage, with the monthly payment capped at 2.5 million won ($1,790) for the first three months and subject to lower payment rates and caps thereafter, depending on the amount of parental leave already taken.
The new system is expected to help parents who previously had to use vacation days or rely on grandparents when schools or childcare centers were unable to take care of their children.
Such difficulties can be particularly acute for parents who do not live near their own parents or have already used much of their annual leave to care for their children, especially during outbreaks of illnesses such as influenza and hand, foot and mouth disease at childcare facilities.
The ministry said parents can apply on the same day when taking short-term parental leave due to a child’s illness.
The government has also limited the circumstances in which short-term parental leave can be used, partly in response to concerns that sudden worker absences could disrupt workplaces.
Short-term parental leave can be used when a childcare center or school closes, or when a child is hospitalized or isolated due to an illness, accident or infectious disease, even if only part of the leave overlaps with the relevant situation.
For school vacations, however, the entire period of short-term leave must overlap with the child’s kindergarten or school vacation. Parents taking short-term parental leave because of a school vacation must also apply at least 30 days in advance.
The new system follows last year’s expansion of parental leave to up to 18 months and is part of a broader government push to help parents balance work and child care amid the country’s chronically low birth rate.
