Assemblyman Kim Won-i Adds Family Disability as a Reason for Family Care Leave

Over 160,000 Workers Used COVID-19 Family Care Leave

Kim Won-i, a member of the National Assembly from Mokpo, representing the Democratic Party of Korea.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seunghyun Jeong] Kim Won-i, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, has introduced a bill to expand the scope of family care leave and vacation to include disabilities.

On the 12th, Kim Won-i's office stated in a press release that the number of workers who used family care leave related to COVID-19 from 2020 to 2021 reached 166,000 (source: Ministry of Employment and Labor).

The number of workers taking leave to directly care for children and elderly family members staying at home due to home treatment, school closures, and the suspension of local social welfare institutions has significantly increased.

Under the current Equal Employment Opportunity Act, workers can apply for up to 90 days of family care leave or up to 10 days of family care vacation annually when there is a need to care for family members due to illness, accident, old age, or child-rearing, and employers are required to allow this.

However, since the use conditions for family care leave and vacation do not include family disabilities, it has been pointed out that caregivers in families with disabled members find it difficult to continue working during care gaps.

In fact, according to a 2020 report by the National Human Rights Commission, among 1,174 parents of individuals with developmental disabilities surveyed, 20.5% (241 people) responded that one parent quit their job due to child care issues. This suggests that caregivers in families with disabled members have experienced serious career interruptions and abandonment of livelihood since COVID-19.

Accordingly, the amendment adds family disability to the conditions for using family care leave and vacation, expanding workers' family care rights and minimizing livelihood abandonment.

Representative Kim Won-i said, “We will strive to eliminate blind spots so that care gaps do not occur in families with disabled members during emergencies such as infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19, and to guarantee workers' rights to use leave.”