From February 23, 2025, the period of parental leave will be extended from the current 1 year to a maximum of 1 year and 6 months.
The period of parental leave will be increased by 6 months for each parent, allowing each child to take up to 3 years and 2 months of parental leave.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the government is announcing the enactment of the ‘Three Childcare Support Act’ from November 20 to December 30, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Act for Men and Women, the Employment Insurance Act, and partial amendments to subordinate laws of the Labor Standards Act containing this content.
This legislative notice also includes matters necessary to implement the three child care support laws passed by the National Assembly on September 26 and expansion of leave for miscarriage and stillbirth in the early stages of pregnancy.
First, from February 23, 2025, the period of parental leave will be extended to 1 year and 6 months. However, this only applies if both parents have used parental leave for more than 3 months.
Also, starting from this day, for families with children under the age of 8 or in the second grade of elementary school, if both parents take parental leave for at least 3 months, the period will be extended to 1 year and 6 months.
Single parents or parents of children with severe disabilities can extend their childcare leave period by six months without any additional conditions. A severely disabled child refers to a child with a “severe degree of disability (severe)” according to the Enforcement Rules of the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities Act.
Leave before and after childbirth also increases. The current 90-day pre- and post-natal leave will be increased to 100 days if a premature baby is admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit after birth. Premature infants refer to infants born at less than 37 weeks of gestation or weighing less than 2.5 kg and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit within 24 hours of birth.
The timing of use of reduced working hours during pregnancy will also be revised. Currently, it can be used within 12 weeks of pregnancy or after 36 weeks of pregnancy, but in the future, high-risk pregnant women can use it throughout the entire pregnancy period. High-risk pregnant women are those who have been diagnosed with 19 dangerous diseases that are subject to the High-Risk Pregnancy Medical Cost Support Project (Ministry of Health and Welfare), such as multiple pregnancies, diabetes, and bleeding.
In addition, considering the recent trend of increasing miscarriages and stillbirths due to an increase in the number of elderly pregnant women, the leave period for miscarriages and stillbirths in early pregnancy within 11 weeks of pregnancy will be expanded from the current 5 days to 10 days.
Source: www.nextdaily.co.kr
