Verbal Abuse and Resignation Pressure After Requesting Parental Leave
South Korea Has the Lowest Parental Leave Usage Rate Among 19 OECD Countries
Experts: "Parental Leave Should Be Available to Everyone Without Worry"
"Creating an Atmosphere for Parental Leave Use Is More Important Than Punishing Employers"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] It has come to light that the director of a public daycare center in Seoul verbally abused a childcare teacher who requested parental leave, saying things like "Why didn't you use contraception?" and "You're causing trouble by getting pregnant," shocking many.
The director not only refused to grant parental leave and maternity leave but also made remarks implying that if she had known the teacher would get married and have children, she would not have hired her. Parental leave is a key system to address the low birthrate crisis, but many employees still hesitate to use it for fear of disadvantages such as dismissal. Experts suggest that government agencies need to manage employers to ensure workers can utilize parental leave.
On the 29th of last month, a post titled "Reporting refusal of parental leave at a daycare center" was uploaded on the Blue House's public petition board. Childcare teacher A, who works at a public daycare center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, shared her story of informing the director about her pregnancy and requesting parental leave, only to be verbally abused by the director.
A, who got married in December last year, found out she was pregnant in September and informed the director in October. Having worked at the daycare center for over a year since its opening, A explained, "I had been working for over a year, so I was legally eligible to apply for parental leave, and from November 19, I was also eligible for prenatal parental leave."
According to a YTN report on the 1st, in a recorded conversation between A and the director, the director scolded A, saying, "You should have used contraception; this was unplanned," and "I thought you would be careful while using contraception." The director also said, "If I had known you were going to get married, I wouldn't have been able to work with you for long," implying that she would not have hired A had she known about her marriage plans.
A also heard from fellow teachers that the director had badmouthed her, saying things like "You got pregnant without planning or contraception and caused trouble," and "Is being pregnant some kind of show-off?" A stated, "In this day and age, it's unacceptable that a daycare center responsible for childcare refuses parental leave and verbally abuses staff," and said she plans to take legal action.
Despite the serious crisis of population decline due to low birthrates, it remains difficult to utilize welfare systems such as parental leave to address the issue.
According to a report titled "Improvement Tasks to Guarantee the Right to Use Parental Leave" by the National Assembly Research Service, in 2019, there were a total of 319,101 people eligible for parental leave, but only 21.6% (68,863 people) actually took it. Among every 100 newborns, 21.4 women and 1.3 men used parental leave, and among 19 OECD countries with disclosed parental leave data, Korea had the lowest usage rate.
There have also been cases where employees faced disadvantages at work after using family care systems such as parental leave. Namyang Dairy Products, a leading domestic food company, was embroiled in controversy last September for allegedly giving personnel disadvantages to an employee who took parental leave. According to an SBS report, B, who joined Namyang Dairy Products as an assistant manager in the advertising team in 2002 and later became team leader, claimed that after taking parental leave in 2015, she was demoted and, upon returning, was assigned to a logistics warehouse where she only performed simple tasks.
The recording released by SBS contains statements from a person presumed to be Hong Won-sik, chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, giving unfair instructions regarding B's personnel matters. In the recording, the person says, "Make her work hard, apply invisible but very strong pressure so she can't endure it," urging another employee to pressure B into voluntarily resigning.
The Gender Equality Employment Act stipulates that if an employee is dismissed or treated unfavorably due to parental leave, the employer can face imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won. Employers who refuse parental leave applications or do not provide the same level of work and pay to employees returning from parental leave can also be fined up to 5 million won.
However, even when employees file lawsuits for unfair treatment after using parental leave, cases where employers are punished are extremely rare. According to data submitted by independent lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, among 603 parental leave-related complaints received by the ministry from 2018 to August 2021, only 98 cases (16.3%) resulted in actual action. This is because penalties are light and it is legally difficult for employees to prove employer misconduct.
Experts suggest that policies and systems should be established to prevent unfair treatment related to parental leave in advance. Bae Jin-kyung, head of the Korean Women Workers Association, said, "When an employer verbally abuses a worker by saying things like 'Why did you get pregnant?' and harasses them, it is difficult for that worker to continue working even if they return," emphasizing, "While punishing employers who violate parental leave rules is important, preventing such situations from occurring in the first place is even more crucial."
She added, "Government agencies such as the Ministry of Employment and Labor need to notify employers about parental leave-eligible employees and continuously manage them," and "Through labor law education, we need to create awareness that parental leave is a welfare system that employers must provide to employees."
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