Yoon Administration's National Task 'Extending Parental Leave to 1 Year and 6 Months' Pushed to the Backseat

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] As the Yoon Seok-yeol administration plans to implement strengthened low birthrate policies starting next year, the 'extension of parental leave to 1 year and 6 months' has not even been discussed in the National Assembly's standing committee subcommittee, making it difficult to estimate the implementation timeline. Both the government and the National Assembly hold the view that implementation next year, as some expect, is impossible.

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According to the National Assembly's legislative information system and the Environment and Labor Committee on the 14th, the "Partial Amendment to the Act on Gender Equality in Employment and Support for Work-Family Balance," which was primarily proposed by Jeon Yong-gi of the Democratic Party of Korea, was submitted to the Environment and Labor Committee subcommittee but has not even been discussed among ruling and opposition party members.

An official from the Environment and Labor Committee said, "While the agenda submission authority lies with the party secretaries, the parental leave extension amendment was pushed aside in favor of more urgent issues." In fact, although the bill was submitted at the Environment and Labor Committee subcommittee meeting held on November 17, the minutes show no mention of parental leave.

The current contentious issue in the Environment and Labor Committee is the "Yellow Envelope Act (Amendment to the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act)." This law, which limits employers' liability for damages caused by union strikes, was led by the Democratic Party and strongly opposed by the People Power Party, resulting in failure to pass during the regular session. In the extraordinary session, the parental leave extension amendment is also likely to be sidelined among other contentious bills. Even if the amendment passes, a grace period will be required, so it is explained that it will take at least a year or more before it is applied at each workplace. Accordingly, there is a forecast that extending parental leave to 1 year and 6 months may still be difficult even the year after next.

Although it is a national agenda of the Yoon administration, the ruling party's passive stance on the bill is also cited as a reason for the lack of momentum. On the contrary, the opposition Democratic Party appears more proactive regarding related laws. Besides Jeon Yong-gi's bill containing the parental leave extension, other bills have been submitted to the Environment and Labor Committee by Democratic Party members including Lee Soo-jin (related to honorary employment equality supervisors), Park Sung-jun (allowing telecommuting and remote work during childcare), and Jung Il-young (infertility treatment leave regardless of gender).

Jeon Yong-gi's office stated, "Among the bills currently submitted, to legally pass the parental leave extension, the review and processing should focus on Jeon Yong-gi's bill."

The amendment proposed by Jeon includes extending the usage period for parental leave and reduced working hours during childcare from the current '1 year' to '2 years' respectively. Currently, if raising a child under 8 years old or in the second grade or below of elementary school, each parent can use parental leave for one year per child, and the main point is to increase this to two years.

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However, concerns have been raised about the increased burden on employers, avoidance of hiring female workers, and deepening career interruptions if the parental leave period is extended, suggesting the need for comprehensive consideration and discussion on whether to extend the period.

Extending the parental leave usage period is also a national agenda of the Yoon administration. In June, the government announced the "New Government Economic Policy Direction," introducing policies to respond to low birthrates, including ▲ extending parental leave from 1 year to 1 year and 6 months ▲ providing monthly parental benefits of 700,000 KRW ▲ granting a first meeting use voucher of 2 million KRW for newborns. Unlike the usual opposition from the opposition party to government policies, the parental leave extension amendment, which seemed to only require coordination between 1 year and 6 months and 2 years, is expected to drag on past the year-end amid "internal discussions" by the government and the National Assembly prioritizing "urgent issue handling."

Parents who had been eagerly awaiting the swift passage of the parental leave extension bill have been left disappointed.

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An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, "A bill amendment needs to be prepared, but the government proposal has not yet been released," adding, "The information that it will be implemented from 2023 is incorrect." The official continued, "Even when the new government policy direction was announced, it was never said that it would be implemented next year," and said, "Currently, it is still at the stage of internal discussions, and nothing has been decided yet."

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