[2022 Yangpyeong Index] Hanssem, Infertility Leave System and Childcare Expense Support

7th Asia Gender Equality Index Awards Asia Economy Grand Prize Work-Life Balance Category

Choi Sung-won, Head of Corporate Culture at Hanssem, is receiving the Asia Economy Representative Award from Woo Byung-hyun, CEO of Asia Economy, at the '7th Asia Gender Equality Index Awards Ceremony' held on the 19th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Hanssem, which received the Asia Economy Representative Award in the work-family balance category, provides parental leave for up to 2 years to both male and female employees. The company promotes flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting and operates various programs including family care leave and infertility leave.

In 2022, 46% of the personnel hired by Hanssem were women. The company does not differentiate between men and women in recruitment or personnel management and is exploring various methods to promote the employment of women, including considering the hiring of women with career interruptions. Hanssem cultivates female managers and continuously recruits external female managers in addition to developing internal talent. To improve the quality of female employment, the company also focuses on enhancing the work environment and welfare benefits. It has continuously expanded and strengthened rest areas, workspaces, and childcare support programs.

Hanssem has established various systems to support work-family balance. Pregnant female employees can shorten their working hours by 2 hours per day during pregnancy. The company operates a shortened working hours system during pregnancy that exceeds legal standards. During the shortened working period for childcare, additional parental leave is granted, allowing employees to combine childcare with unused leave periods within one year. Parental leave is granted for up to 2 years, and 20% of all parental leave takers are male employees. The utilization of parental leave by male employees is steadily increasing.

Additionally, Hanssem provides congratulatory gifts for pregnant families, childbirth congratulatory money (1 million KRW per person), childcare expenses for children below school age (100,000 KRW per month per child), and tuition support programs for children after school age. The company operates two in-house daycare centers located at the Sangam and Bangbae office buildings, hiring excellent teachers to manage them directly.

Hanssem does not separate job roles by gender, but since there are female- or male-underrepresented roles depending on the nature of the work, it implements policies such as internal recruitment systems and department transfer policies to address imbalances. Sales positions managing remodeling dealerships or affiliates have traditionally been male-dominated, but through gender-neutral hiring in recent years, the proportion of female remodeling sales employees increased to 28% as of the end of September.

To establish a gender-equal organizational system, Hanssem conducts gender sensitivity training once a year for all employees, separate from the legally mandated sexual harassment prevention education. The HR department has established a sexual grievance counseling office and built a reporting process. It also operates an educational curriculum to train sexual grievance counselors.

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