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Maternity Leave Before or After Childbirth, and Childcare Leave

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  • Maternity Leave Before or After Childbirth, and Childcare Leave

Maternity Leave Before or After Childbirth, and Childcare Leave

Employees who are pregnant are eligible for maternity leave before or after childbirth. Parents can also take advantage of the childcare leave system (reduced working hours during infant care) when raising children under 6 years of age.

  • Childcare leave is also offered to pregnant female employee

01Maternity Leave Before or After Childbirth

(1)Qualifications

  • Any female employee working at a business with more than 1 worker subject to regulation by the Labor Standard Act can go on maternity leave regardless of form of labor contract (permanent position, temporary position, etc.).

(2)Period of maternity leave before or after childbirth

For regular deliveries, employees may apply for 90 days of leave around the due date or the date of childbirth.
Employees must use 45 days of the leave or more post delivery.
  • ① When a worker has experienced an abortion or a stillbirth; ② when a worker is 40 years old or older; or ③ when a worker has submitted a medical certificate of a medical organization documenting the risk of an abortion or a stillbirth, the worker may take the 44-day leave which is available before delivery at the early stage of pregnancy.
Pre-birth and post-birth maternity leave is granted to employees of certain businesses; the leave expires if the employment contract expires during the leave.
  • Women who give birth to two children or more at a time (twins, etc.) receive 120 days' perinatal maternity leave. The period of leave after delivery must be 60 days or longer.

(3)Wages during maternity leave before or after childbirth

  • During perinatal maternity leave, perinatal maternity leave salary will be provided.
  • Major corporations provide 100% of the employee's regular pay for the first 60 days, and the remaining 30 days are paid through unemployment insurance (maximum KRW 2.1 million per month)
  • In the case of prioritized target businesses of support (small and medium-sized business), the salary for 90 days' leave will be paid by unemployment insurance (up to KRW 2.1 million per month), with the company paying the difference between regular wages and perinatal maternity pay for the first 60 days.
  • If the labor agreement of short-term or dispatched workers expires during maternity leave, they can get wages for the remaining leave period from employment insurance.
  • Major conglomerates pay 100% of the regular wages for 75 days in the case of multiple births (twins, etc.); the salary for the remaining 45 days will be provided by the unemployment insurance (up to KRW 2.1 million per month). In case of small and medium-sized companies, the unemployment insurance provides perinatal maternity pay for 120 days (up to KRW 2.1 million per month).

(4)How to apply for wages during maternity leave before or after childbirth

Workers who intend to receive wages during maternity leave must get a confirmation document from their company and submit it along with a maternity pay application to their local employment center.
Necessary Documents
  • Documents received from the company: confirmation of maternity leave, payroll, document that can confirm wages such as copy of employment contract, etc.
  • Documents received from the homepage of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, or Employment Center: application form for maternity leave

02Miscarriage or Stillbirth Leave

(1)Qualifications

  • In principle, a leave due to a miscarriage or stillbirth is given only for natural miscarriages (In the case of an induced abortion, a leave is offered in accordance with Article 14.1 of the Mother and Child Health Law), and the period of leave differs according to the term of pregnancy.
  • In accordance with the Labor Standards Law, a female employee who is employed by a business with one or more employees may apply for leave, regardless of her type of employment contract (regular workers and part-time workers).

(2)Duration of Stillbirth and Miscarriage Leave

Progressive protection leave is granted according to term of pregnancy at time of miscarriage or stillbirth.
  • Within 11 weeks of pregnancy: up to 5 days of protection leave is granted from the date of miscarriage or stillbirth.
  • 12-15 weeks of pregnancy: up to 10 days of protection leave is granted from the date of miscarriage or stillbirth.
  • 16-21 weeks: 30 days from the date of stillbirth or miscarriage
  • 22-27 weeks: 60 days from the date of stillbirth or miscarriage
  • Week 28weeks~: 90 days from the date of stillbirth or miscarriage

(3) Allowances for Stillbirth and Miscarriage Leave

  • The same standards are applied to allowances for stillbirth and miscarriage leave as those for maternity leave.
  • Large corporations pay allowances for the initial 60 days of the leave, and the employment insurance pays allowances for the final 30 days of the leave (maximum KRW 2.1 million per month).
  • For employees of small and medium-sized corporations, the employment insurance pays allowances for 90 days of the leave (maximum KRW 2.1 million per month).

(4)How to apply for wages during leave due to miscarriage or stillbirth

  • Workers who intend to receive wages during a leave of absence must get a confirmation document from their company, and submit it along with an application for leave and a copy of medical records of miscarriage or stillbirth to an employment center of their residence or company.

03Parental Leave

Female workers who are pregnant or workers with a child or children aged 8 or below, or in the second grade of elementary school, can take a leave of absence for a year for child care.

(1)Qualifications

  • Female workers who are pregnant or both male and female workers with a child or children aged 8 or below or in the second grade of elementary school can apply for parental leave if they have worked for the same company for more than 6 months.
  • Childcare leave is aimed at preventing male and female employees from quitting their jobs due to lack of childcare and to help them maintain a healthy work-life balance.

(2)Duration of Childcare Leave

  • The maximum duration of childcare leave is one year.

(3)Childcare Leave Allowance

  • The period of parental leave is unpaid, but the employment insurance provides childcare leave benefits* to workers who have taken parental leave for more than 30 days, so they can raise infants without making sacrifices with their livelihood/employment.
    • 80% of the monthly regular wage (up to a max. of KRW 1.5 mil and min. of KRW 700,000)
  • When the mother and father with a child aged 12 months or younger take parental leave coincidently or successively, 100% of the average monthly wage of each parent will correspond to childcare allowance for the first 3 months (up to a max. of KRW 2 or 3 mil) (3+3 parental childcare leave system).
    • Mother’s 3 months + father’s 3 months: Up to a max. of KRW 3 million support monthly (100% of the average monthly wage) mother’s 2 months + father’s 2 months: Up to a max. of KRW 2.5 million support each (100% of the average monthly wage) mother’s 1 month + father’s 1 month: Up to a max. of KRW 2 million support monthly each (100% of the average monthly wage) → Up to a max. of KRW7.5 million support for each parent
  • Apart from childcare leave allowances, incentives are offered to business owners of companies subject to preferential support to ensure employment stability during the childbirth and childcare period (KRW 2 million per month in addition to KRW 300,000 per month when applying the exception).
    • (Exemption) Provides KRW 2 million monthly for the first 3 months to business owners who allows childcare leave for longer than 3 months for workers with a child aged 12 months or younger.

(4)How to Apply for Childcare Leave Allowance

Submit your application for childcare leave allowance to the business proprietor 30 days prior to taking leave.
Workers who intend to receive allowances during childcare leave must get written confirmation from their company and submit it along with an application to their local employment center.
Necessary Documents
  • Documents received from company: confirmation document for childcare leave, payroll document that can confirm wage such as employment contract (copy), etc.
  • Documents received from homepage of the Ministry of Employment and Labor or Employment Center: application form for childcare leave

04Working Hour Reduction during Childcare Period

  • Workers with children who are 8 years old or younger or in 2nd or lower grade of elementary school can reduce their working hours to 15-30 hours per week during the childcare period.

(1)Subjects

  • Both male and female workers can apply for reduced working hours if they have worked for the same company for more than six months and have a child 8 years old or younger who has not yet entered elementary school.
  • Reduction of working hours during the childcare period aims to improve employees’ work-life balance, ensure career stability and progression, increase company loyalty, and prevent a decline in the quality of work.

(2)Usage period

  • Reduced working hours can be applied for up to a year. However, if you have unused parental leave period, you may add it to your reduced hours for up to two years.

(3)Wages during reduced hours for childcare

  • During the working hour reduction period, wages are paid by the business owner for applicable labor hours, and reduced working hour allowances (1 hour per day: 100% of regular wages (up to a max. of KRW 2 mil per month), the rest of reduced hour wages: 80% of regular wages (Up to a max. of KRW 1.5 mil per month) proportional to reduced hours) are paid from employment insurance.
  • Apart from reduced hour wages during the childcare leave period, incentives are provided to employers subject to preferential support (KRW 400,000 per month when applying an incentive* of KRW 300,000 per month) as well as alternative employment subsidies (KRW 800,000 per month, KRW 1.2 mil during the takeover period).
    • (Nos. 1-3 incentives) Provides an additional subsidy of KRW 100,000 per month to employers for allowing reduced hour work for workers from the first to third childcare leaves.

(4)How to apply for working hour reduction allowances during childcare period

Workers must apply for working hour reduction 30 days before the reduction in hours is applied.
Workers who intend to receive allowances during working hour reduction period must get written confirmation from their company and submit it along with an allowance application to their local employment center.
Necessary Documents
  • Documents received from the company: confirmation document for working hour reduction during childcare period, payroll documents that can confirm wage such as copy of employment contract, etc.
  • Documents received from the homepage of the Ministry of Employment and Labor or Employment Center: application form for working hour reduction allowances during childcare period
    • When workers are pregnant, they can take a leave before or after childbirth. In addition, workers who have a child (or children) aged 8 or younger or in the second grade of elementary school or below, can take parental leave (working hour reduction during the child nurturing period). (The childcare leave benefit includes pregnant female workers).

05Maternity Allowance for Those Who Do Not Have Employment Insurance

(1)Purposes

  • Support for maternity allowance for ‘people with no employment insurance’ but earns incomes to protect maternity and support for living after childbirth (Implemented on July 1, 2019)

(2)Qualifications

One-person business operators, special employees, freelancers, and those who do not meet the requirement (180 days) for receiving employment insurance may receive benefits
  • Independent, or joint businessmen who do not have employees (real estate brokers excluded)
  • Workers in special employment and freelancers who have worked for more than three months within the 18 months before childbirth
  • Workers who do not have employment insurance
Workers who have subscribed to employment insurance but did not meet the requirement of ‘180 days of employment insurance subscription’ for receiving maternity leave before and after childbirth
Workers of business to which employment insurance is not applied or workers to whom the Employment Insurance Act is not applicable
Workers who are not subscribers of the employment insurance working at a business where employment insurance is not established

(3)Support Amount and Application Period

  • You can apply a total of KRW 1.5 million within 1 year from the day your child is born. The support will not be carried over to the next year if not applied within the corresponding 1-year period.

(4)How to apply for Maternity Allowance for Those Who Do Not Have Employment Insurance

  • Those who wish to receive maternity allowance may register as a member at the Employment Insurance website (www.ei.go.kr) and apply or visit or mail the application to the employment center at the place of your residence or work.
  • Required documents: Birth certificate, (register of family relationship of Korean descent), documents to prove income, business registration, etc.
    • The employment center may ask for additional verification other than required documents for payment of the maternity allowance.

06Spousal maternity leave

Male workers whose spouse gave childbirth are entitled to 10 days of paid leave.

(1)Eligible recipients

  • Male worker whose spouse gave childbirth
  • By granting leave to workers following childbirth by a spouse, the health of the spouse and unborn child can be protected and male participation in childrearing can be expanded.

(2)Spousal maternity leave period

  • 10 days of paid leave (However, it must be used within a period of 90 days from the date of childbirth).

(3)Spousal maternity leave benefits

  • Workers belonging to companies eligible for preferential support can receive 100% of normal wages (maximum amount of KRW 401,910) from employment insurance for the first 5 days of vacation allowance.
    • For the first 5 days, the employer must pay the normal wage that exceeds the upper limit and the normal wage for the remaining 5 days.

(4)Steps to apply for spousal maternity leave benefits

Workers who wish to receive spousal maternity leave benefits must provide a letter confirm spousal maternity leave from the employer for submission along with an application for spousal maternity leave benefits to the job center having jurisdiction over the applicant's place of residence or workplace.
Required documents
  • Documents received from the company: Documents confirming wages, such as a letter to confirm spousal maternity leave, payroll slip, copy of labor contract, etc.
  • Documents received from the website of the Ministry of Employment and Labor or the employment center: "Application for Spousal Maternity Leave Benefit"
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This work can be used according to the “KOGL (Korea Open Government License) Type 4: Source Indication+Prohibition of Commercial Use+Prohibition of Change” condition.
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