Must I grant Male Employees Maternity/Paternity Leave in Korea?: Korean Labor/Employment Law Updates

Article 19 of the Korean Labor Standards Act (LSA), in part, governs whether an employer must grant an employee unpaid maternity leave. Any employer, under the LSA, must grant a male or female employee maternity leave (Literal translation: Temporary Retirement for Childcare) if the child of the parent is taking care of the child and the child is under the age of 8 (Western/Legal Age).

The employer is required to give the employee a maximum of one year unpaid leave, the employer may not dismiss the employee or otherwise disadvantage the employee during this leave period and the employer must include this period in the employee’s “continuous employment” and must pay the employee, at least, the same wage amount as when the employee commences the leave as when the employee returns to work.

More articles on employment law that may be of interest to the reader.