Legislative trends in acts related to childcare support and wage payment delays

8 November 2024 5 min read

By Weon Jung Kim, Ki Young Kim, Paul Cho, Do-Yoon Kim and Hoin Lee

At a glance

Amendments to three childcare-related laws were passed on 26 September 2024.
These amendments were enacted on 22 October 2024.
The amendments focus on extending the period of maternity leave and reducing working hours for childcare, and extending the period of childcare leave if absence for working couples.

This article has been reproduced with the permission of the authors Weon Jung Kim, Ki Young Kim, Paul Cho, Do-Yoon Kim and Hoin Lee at Kim & Chang.

Amendments to three childcare-related laws, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, the Employment Insurance Act, and the Labour Standards Act (LSA) (collectively Amendments), which are aimed at strengthening parental co-care and promoting work life-family balance, were passed in the plenary session of the National Assembly on 26 September 2024, and were enacted on 22 October 2024.

These Amendments focus on extending the period of maternity leave and reducing working hours for childcare, and extending the period of childcare leave if absence for working couples.

A summary of the key details of these Amendments are as follows:

Item	Key Details
Childcare leave of absence	Classification	Current	Amendment
	Period	Up to one year	Up to 18 months (for each parent using at least three months / a single-parent / parents of a child with a severe disability)
	Use	Up to three separate periods	Up to four separate periods
	Effective Date: 23 February 2025
Paternity leave	Classification	Current	Amendment
	Period	Ten days	20 days
	Government Support	Five days (SMEs)	20 days (SMEs)
	Use	Up to two separate periods	Up to four separate periods
	Deadline	Request within 90 days after childbirth	Use within 120 days after childbirth
	Effective Date: 23 February 2025
Reduction of working hours for period of childcare	Classification	Current	Amendment
	Subject to age of child	Eight years of age or younger	12 years of age or younger
	Period	Up to two years (One year and unused period of childcare leave of absence)	Up to three years (One year and unused period of childcare leave of absence x two)
	Use (minimum at one time)	At least three months	At least one month
	Calculation of annual leave	Excluded	Included
	If a relevant employee does not take a childcare leave of absence, the period for a reduction of working hours will be extended from 18 months to 36 months (three years). Effective Date: 23 February 2025
Reduction of working hours during pregnancy	Classification	Current	Amendment
	Use	Within the first 12 weeks or after 36 weeks	Within the first 12 weeks or after 32 weeks (note: For a high-risk person, eg, premature labour or having twins or more, the entire pregnancy period with a doctor’s certificate)
	Calculation of annual leave	Excluded	Included
	Effective Date: 23 February 2025 (provided that the calculation of annual leave has been effective from 22 October 2024).
Calculation of annual leave	The childcare leave of absence period has been recognised as attendance at work and included in the calculation of annual leave in accordance with the LSA, while the hours representing reduced working hours for childcare and during one’s pregnancy are calculated only in proportion to the hours worked. However, under these Amendments, the reduced working hours during childcare and the pregnancy will also be included in the calculation of annual leave. Effective Date: 22 October 2024.
Maternity leave (for premature birth of the baby requiring hospitalisation in a neonatal intensive care unit)	Classification	Current	Amendment
	Period	90 days	100 days
	Effective Date: 23 February 2025.
Subfertility treatment leave	The period of subfertility treatment leave is extended from three days to six days per year, with at least two of those days required to be paid leave (currently, one day). By establishing a new provision for wage support during the above-mentioned paid leave, the burden on employers of SMEs will be mitigated.
	Classification	Current	Amendment
	Period	Three days per year (including one paid leave day)	Six days per year (including two paid leave days)
	Government support	Not applicable	SMEs
	Confidentiality	Not applicable	Applicable
	Effective Date: 23 February 2025 (provided that the calculation of annual leave has been effective from 22 October 2024).
Addenda deleted	These Amendments will exclude the related addenda following enforcement thereof. Employees who took a childcare leave of absence and reduced working hours for a period of childcare and used them for the entire one year before 1 October 2019, will also be eligible for benefits under the expanded systems.
Effective dates	These Amendments were enacted on 22 October 2024, and are expected to take effect four months after promulgation thereof, on 23 February 2025. However, the improvement regarding the calculation of annual leave in case of a reduction in working hours for childcare or during the pregnancy, as well as the employer’s obligation to keep confidential information about subfertility treatment leave, have been effective from 22 October 2024, the date of promulgation.

In order to create a work life-family balance where both can thrive, the regulations related to childcare are undergoing changes on an annual basis. Notably, these Amendments are set to bring about significant changes to the childcare support system, making it essential for both employers and employees to thoroughly understand such legislative trends.

We also note that an amendment to the LSA aimed at eradicating habitual wage payment delays were also enacted on 22 October 2024, and are expected to take effect one year after the promulgation, on 23 October 2025. Going forward, to strengthen the effectiveness of sanctions, the interest on wage payment delays (20% per annum), which currently applies only to retired employees, will also be expanded to apply to current employees. Additionally, the application of a non-prosecution clause against the employees’ will for employers those who have been found guilty two times or more within three years and have delayed payments of over KRW30 million within the past year will be excluded.

With the adoption of strong penalties for habitual wage payment delays in this amendment to the LSA, it is expected that monitoring by the relevant authorities will intensify. Therefore, it is important to understand the relevant provisions and to review the wage system with a focus on preventing delays in wage payments.