Half of Employees Say "Parental Leave Cannot Be Freely Used"

Labor Watch 119 Survey of 1,000 Employees
Non-Regular Workers: “Taking Maternity Leave Still Faces Stigma”

It has been found that nearly half of employees in South Korea are unable to freely use systems such as parental leave and reduced working hours for childcare.

On July 19, Labor Watch 119 released the results of a survey conducted by the polling agency Global Research, which polled 1,000 employed individuals aged 19 or older nationwide between June 1 and June 9. According to the findings, 46.7% of respondents said that they could not freely use parental leave.

Regarding the use of parental leave, non-regular workers (62.3%) found it more difficult to use than regular workers (36.3%). Employees at workplaces with fewer than five workers (68.6%) experienced more difficulty than those at large companies with 300 or more employees (30.5%). In particular, among non-regular female employees, negative responses reached 70.2%.

Similarly, 41.6% of respondents stated that they could not freely use maternity leave. Among non-regular female employees, 65.9% reported difficulty in taking maternity leave as well. In contrast, among men and top managerial staff, where utilization rates are low, more respondents said they could freely use both systems.

Responses indicating that family care leave or absence could not be freely used accounted for 52%, which is even higher than for parental or maternity leave. The patterns of higher negative responses among women and non-regular workers remained the same.

Between January and June this year, there were 36 verified cases involving workplace abuse related to childbirth or childcare, according to complaints received by Labor Watch 119. Representative examples included: ▲Cases where employees were notified of dismissal during parental leave and were ostracized upon returning to work; ▲Cases where workload was increased during reduced working hours, leading to overtime; ▲Cases where employees who applied for shorter working hours were reassigned to distant locations.

Labor Watch 119 stated, "The effectiveness of these systems depends on labor conditions such as workplace size, type of employment, wage level, and the presence of labor unions. To ensure these policies are effective at the workplace level, abuse must be eradicated and organizational culture must recognize parental and maternity leave as a matter of course." The group emphasized, "The government should not only rely on reports, but also establish a constant labor inspection system to oversee disadvantageous actions, and strengthen punishment and sanctions for employers that violate the rules."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.