Family Care Leave Extended to 20 Days Amid 'Care Gap' Concerns... Passed in Plenary Session

Single-Parent Families Can Use Up to 20 Days Annually
Emergency Family Care Expense Support Provided to 120,000 People
Minister Lee Jae-gap: "Cost Support to Be Discussed with Relevant Ministries"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] In the event of the spread of infectious diseases such as the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), family care leave can be used for up to 20 days per year. Single-parent families can use it for up to 25 days.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that the amendment to the "Act on Gender Equality in Employment and Work-Family Balance Support," which allows family care leave to be extended by up to 10 days in emergency situations such as the nationwide spread of infectious diseases, passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 7th.

Since child care issues are serious due to the current impact of COVID-19, the Employment Policy Deliberation Committee will be convened immediately after the amended law is promulgated to review the extension of the family care leave period.

According to the amended law, when a "serious" level crisis alert is issued due to the spread of infectious diseases, the Minister of Employment and Labor may, after deliberation by the Employment Policy Deliberation Committee, extend the family care leave period within a maximum of 10 days (up to 15 days for single-parent families).

In this case, the total annual family care leave period, including the extended days, is up to 20 days (up to 25 days for single-parent families).

This amendment was made to provide a legal basis for extending the leave period in preparation for the nationwide resurgence within the year, as school openings were postponed, kindergartens and schools were closed, and online classes continued from March, causing workers to have already used a significant portion of their annual and family care leave.

Emergency family care cost support, temporarily provided to workers who used family care leave due to COVID-19-related reasons, has been given to a total of 119,764 people as of the 4th.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap said, "This will be welcome news for parents who were overwhelmed with child care due to COVID-19," and added, "We will promptly go through the related procedures to review the extension of the family care leave period. We will also quickly complete consultations with related ministries regarding financial support for the increased family care leave."

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