Change in Paternity Leave benefit

l Change in Paternity Leave benefit

Before amendment of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, employers should provide minimum 3 days and up to 5 days of paternity leave when requested by a male employee (for a child birth of his spouse), and the minimum 3 days of paternity leave should be the paid leave.

Effective from October 1, 2019, the minimum 10 days of paternity leave should be the paid leave and the time to claim paternity leave is now extended from 30 days to 90 days from the date of child birth.

The maternity leave benefit for female employee remains unchanged in 2020. The employer shall grant a female employee who is pregnant a total of ninety (90) calendar days (120 calendar days of leave in case of pregnancy with multiple fetuses) in total including before or after the childbirth. Provided however, that at least forty-five (45) calendar days (60 calendar days of leave in case of pregnancy with multiple fetuses) of such maternity leave shall be used after the childbirth. For the first sixty (60) days (75 calendar days of leave in case of pregnancy with multiple fetuses) of ninety (90) calendar days maternity leave (120 calendar days of leave in case of pregnancy with multiple fetuses), the employer shall pay the difference between the ordinary salary received from the employer before her maternity leave and the maternity leave pay received from the Korean Labor Welfare Corporation in accordance with the provisions of the Employment Insurance Act (that is, KRW 1.8 million per month effective from January 1, 2019), if such maternity leave pay received is less than the ordinary salary of employee concerned.