"Employment Equality Disclosure System to Be Introduced in March Next Year"... Plan to Publicize Gender Wage Status at Large Corporations

Gender Equality Committee Holds First In-Person Meeting in Five Years on April 20

Promoting Reduction of Wage Gaps and Creation of a Gender-Equal Work Environment

Strengthening the Care Safety Net... Introduction of Recommendation Functions by the Committee

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is planning to introduce the Employment Equality Disclosure System in March next year. The ministry aims to establish the legal basis for operating this system and to build the related public disclosure infrastructure.

Won Minkyung, Minister of Gender Equality and Family. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Won Minkyoung, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, stated at a pre-briefing for the 19th Gender Equality Committee held at the Government Complex Seoul on April 17, "To foster a fair and gender-equal work environment, we intend to provide the legal foundation for the Employment Equality Disclosure System and establish a disclosure platform, encouraging companies to voluntarily address gender gaps."

Minister Won added, "Many citizens and companies in our country agree on the need to address the gender wage gap. We are preparing for the introduction of the Employment Equality Disclosure System in March next year, coordinating with various agencies as well as other ministries."

The Employment Equality Disclosure System is designed to increase transparency by making public the employment status and wage gaps between male and female workers within companies. It is expected to boost women’s participation in economic activities and help address structural gender gaps in the labor market. The initiative aims to supplement the existing Affirmative Action (AA) program, which has targeted large corporations and public institutions, by encouraging more voluntary improvements among businesses.

Korea currently has the largest gender wage gap among OECD member countries, and the gender wage gap indicator in the National Gender Equality Index, released on this day, fell to 70.9 points from 71.0 points the previous year, highlighting the issue as a chronic problem.

According to the Employment Equality Disclosure System proposed earlier this month by Hongbae Park, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea (who sponsored the amendment to the Framework Act on Gender Equality), companies above a certain size will be required to submit: ▲ the status of male and female workers by job category, job level, and employment type; ▲ the wage status of male and female workers by job category, job level, and employment type; and ▲ plans to improve gender wage gaps.

Business owners whose employment ratio of female workers falls below the standard must establish an affirmative action implementation plan and submit it to the Minister of Gender Equality and Family, who may request modifications to the plan as necessary.

Minister Won stated, "We will also work to spread the significance of employment equality disclosure to small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies that are not legally required to disclose."

Additionally, on April 20, the Gender Equality Committee held its first in-person meeting in five years. Minister Won said, "We discussed ways to restore and expand the previously diminished policy channels for gender equality and to revitalize the committee’s overall policy coordination and management functions."

According to the committee's implementation plan for this year, a new after-school program voucher worth around 500,000 won per year will be introduced for third-grade elementary school students to strengthen the care safety net. The income threshold for child care service support for dual-income families will be raised from 200% of the median income to 250% this year, and the number of beneficiary households will increase to 126,000.

A new self-reliance allowance will be provided to children and adolescents leaving shelters for victims of sexual exploitation, offering 500,000 won per month for one year.

The committee also plans to newly introduce a recommendation function to enhance its role in coordinating and overseeing gender equality policies across ministries and to strengthen the practical impact of such policies. Specialized subcommittees for each field will be established to promote inter-ministerial collaboration and discuss areas for improvement. Cooperation networks among central and regional departments and the Gender Equality Committee will be activated to further spread gender equality policies across different social sectors and regions.

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