Human Rights Commission: "Local Governments' Uniform One-Year Limit on Infertility Sick Leave Is Discriminatory"

Recommendation for System Improvement to Local Government That Denied Extension
"Individual Assessment Should Be Based on Physician's Opinion"

A decision has been made that limiting the sick leave for local government employees due to infertility to only one year—and uniformly denying any extension—constitutes discrimination.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea announced on the 16th that it had recommended improvements to a local government that had denied the extension of sick leave for a local public servant who used sick leave due to infertility. The commission also recommended that the head of the local government actively consider individual cases based on a physician’s opinion.

A fertility center in Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

The public servant who filed the petition had used sick leave for 10 months for infertility treatment and then received a medical opinion stating that an additional year of treatment and leave would be necessary, prompting her to apply for an extension. However, the local government did not accept the request, citing internal policy that sick leave for infertility treatment would only be approved within a one-year period in consideration of organizational management.

The commission found that infertility is a medical condition requiring treatment and should be included as a valid reason for sick leave; therefore, there is no reasonable basis to treat it differently from other illnesses. It noted that, over the past five years, 12 requests for extended sick leave due to cancer or chronic diseases of more than one year were all approved, while sick leave for infertility was never approved beyond one year. This discrepancy was viewed as problematic.

A representative from the commission stated, “Given that population decline due to low birth rates is recognized as a serious social issue and the government is implementing various policies to boost the birth rate, the more flexible operation of sick leave policies for infertility treatment in the public sector is in line with the intent and direction of these policies.”

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