Cross-Border Catch-Up: Understanding South Korea’s Childcare Law Updates

Announcer: Welcome to the Ogletree Deakins podcast, where we provide listeners with brief discussions about important workplace legal issues. Our podcasts are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast service. Please consider rating this podcast so we can get your feedback and improve our programs. Please enjoy the podcast.

Skye Hao: Welcome to the Cross-Border Catch-Up, the podcast for global employers who want to stay in the know about cutting-edge employment issues worldwide. I am Skye Hao, and I’m here with my colleague, Goli Rahimi. We’re cross-border attorneys at Ogletree Deakins, and today we’re going to discuss the changes to South Korea’s child care support law.

Goli Rahimi: That’s right, Skye, and thank you. And I think this is particularly timely because even though we saw the South Korean government pass these amendments to the laws last year, they’re actually not going to go into effect until February 23rd of this year. And even though today we’re recording this in January, but February is just right around the corner, and we know how fast the time can sneak up on us. So, why don’t we go ahead and we can discuss each of the big changes in turn and the kind of background that prompted the government to make these amendments.

So, the changes to laws are going to impact three main child support acts in South Korea. The first one is the Equal Employment and Work Family Balance Assistance Act, that’s a mouthful, the Employment Insurance Act, and then finally the Labor Standards Act. Now, as I understand it, the goal behind the passage of these amended laws was to promote a healthy work-life balance and to really encourage both parents to take an active role in child-rearing. This is what we’re seeing to be somewhat direct response to the lower birth rates that South Korea is currently experiencing.

Skye Hao: Yeah, that’s what I heard of those days, that the difficult of increase the birth rate. So then, those amendments themselves impact many different areas of child care support. But understand the two big areas that we’re going to talk about today are child care leave and reduced working hours. Can you walk through about the changes in each area look like?

Goli Rahimi: Yep, sure. Why don’t we go ahead and start with childcare leave? What we’re going to see in February is that childcare leave will be extended from one year to 18 months or a year and a half, but it’s only going to occur in two specific scenarios. So I’ll outline what those are and then we can talk about why it’s important.

The first case in which we’re going to see an eighteen-month leave be offered is where both parents are going to take at least three months of child care or other leave for the same child. The second scenario is for single parents or for parents of children with severe disabilities. So, you can see how this incentive is really conditioned upon both parents being more present during childhood or to help other parents that have otherwise different burdens, such as single parents or parents of children that have those severe disabilities.

Now in that same vein, we’re going to see a doubling of paternity leave from 10 days to 20 days. Now, this time can be taken within 120 days of childbirth. Right now, the father is only allowed to take this leave within 90 days after childbirth. So the extension of the time is really going to give a little bit more flexibility to the fathers. The changes to paternity leave are also more financially appealing for certain employers who will be able to claim wage subsidies for all 20 days of leave. Right now, employers can really only get reimbursement for five days. So this is what we’re seeing to allow parents to have a little bit more financial stability and allow the employers to have a little bit more peace of mind in granting this leave.

And finally, we will see a short extension for maternity leave for premature births that require hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit or the NICU. Mothers will now receive 100 days instead of 90 days. So some big changes in the child care leave arena.

Skye Hao: Those are really big changes. It’s also really important that we are seeing not only an increasing amount of the leave, but the corresponding commitment to make sure that at least some of the leaves are paid through the government subsidies, which will definitely ease the financial burden on the parents who want to take care of their children, but also have to make a living.

Goli Rahimi: Exactly. And Skye, that’s actually a good segue into the second big area of change, which is reduced working hours. In February, we’re going to see some big changes in reduced working hour schemes for parents, both during pregnancy and during child care. This is a direct government response to hopefully address the risks of miscarriage and preterm birth because currently pregnant employees can only apply for reduced working hours during the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy or after 36 weeks of pregnancy. That’s typically when we see the most risk to the mother’s health. However, the amendments are going to expand this period to allow reduced hours again during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, but now you can apply for them after 32 weeks of pregnancy, so much earlier. In addition, high-risk pregnant women can actually apply for reduced working scheme at any time during their pregnancy, regardless of how far along they are.

These amendments are also going to bring new rules for reduced working hours to take care of children. Currently, an employee can only apply for reduced working hours if they have children who are eight years old or younger. But in February, we’re going to see that threshold increase up to 12 years. So parents are going to be able to apply to work for a reduced work schedule for longer while raising their children. Parents can also take advantage of a reduced working schedule for up to three years compared to the current maximum of one year.

Again, we’re seeing a really big theme here by the South Korean government. They want to help parents spend more time bonding with and raising their children without having to sacrifice their jobs, income and careers.

Skye Hao: As a working mom, both of us, I think is really a big step. So, we totally understand that this make really those flexible hours more enticing to parents and make sure that parents actually take the leave that is offered to and available to them without the fear of negative consequences.

Goli Rahimi: Yeah, and I think we see that in the States, too, if an individual feels like they can’t take a leave or shouldn’t take a leave because of the impact to their finances or their career. And even though these changes are for the most part expansions of already existing employee entitlements, if there’s a company that has employees or operations in South Korea, they may want to take a look at their existing policies and procedures just to ensure that they’re ready to go when these changes go into effect on February 23rd.

Skye Hao: Goli, thanks so much for providing us with this insight, and thank you all for joining us for today’s Cross-Border Catch-Up. Follow us to stay in the know about cutting edge employment issues worldwide.

Announcer: Thank you for joining us on the Ogletree Deakins podcast. You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple podcasts or through your favorite podcast service. Please consider rating and reviewing so that we may continue to provide the content that covers your needs. And remember, the information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.