(Oct. 18, 2019) In an effort to boost the fertility rate by providing support to pregnant and child-rearing workers, South Korea’s National Assembly passed an act in August 2019 that amends the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act (EEO-WFBA Act) (Act No. 8781, Dec. 21, 2007) and the Employment Insurance Act (Act No. 10895, July 21, 2011). The amendment (Act No. 16557, Aug. 27, 2019) became effective on October 1, 2019.
Before it was amended by Act No. 16557, article 18-2 of the EEO-WFBA Act stated that a male worker could take paternity leave for three to five days, and the first three days could be paid leave if he fulfilled certain eligibility criteria. The male worker also had to request the leave within 30 days from the birth of the child. Under the amended Act, a male worker can take up to 10 days of paid paternity leave. The amendment also extends the period for requesting paternity leave to 90 days from the child’s birth. In addition, the new law allows a male worker to divide the leave period and take it on two separate occasions.
The amended Act also extends the period of reduced working hours for childcare. Workers who have a child under eight years of age or is in second grade or below may request their employer to reduce their working hours to between 15 and 35 hours per week, except in special cases. The period of reduced working hours can be for up to one year. However, when workers have used none or only part of their one-year parental leave, the unused portion can be added to the period of reduced working hours. (Art. 19-2, paras. 1, 3, 4.) Thus, workers may reduce their work hours for up to two years.
The amendment of the EEO-WFBA is one of various measures the South Korean government has instituted to support pregnant and child-rearing workers in order to boost the country’s fertility rate. South Korea’s fertility rate, which was already the lowest in the world in 2017 at 1.1 births per woman, fell to 0.98 births per woman in 2018.
Another measure South Korea has tried is instituting a system of long-term childcare leave for fathers, which is considered one of best among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The number of fathers who took childcare leave in the first half of 2019 jumped 30.9% from the same period in 2018 and more than doubled from 2016 to 2018, when 17,662 fathers took childcare leave. By August 2019, the number for the year had already reached 14,988. With the amendment of the Acts, the number is expected to increase even more. However, at this point the measure does not appear to have caused any increase in the fertility rate.
