"Second Child, Dad Takes Parental Leave Again"…Companies Truly Committed to Childbirth and Childcare

A Total of 5,911 Family-Friendly Certified Companies This Year
Among Them, 4,110 Are Small and Medium Enterprises... Making Up 69.5% of the Total

#Kim, who works in the Technology Team 1 at the large corporation Lotte MCC, took one month of paternity leave after the birth of his first child in 2020. This year, upon the birth of his second child, he took paternity leave again. Kim said, "It was tough, but during the paternity leave period, I was able to create lifelong memories with my first child, which was great," adding, "As the child grew, it was a precious experience where the father could grow together." Lotte MCC has been a pioneer in fostering a family-friendly workplace culture by implementing mandatory paternity leave in 2017, early adoption of the 52-hour workweek system in November 2018, and offering selective working hours, flexible commuting hours, childcare allowances for preschool children, and psychological counseling support for employees and their families.

#Kim, who works in the Management Strategy Headquarters at ServiceTop Co., Ltd., a customer service subsidiary of SK Telecom, was in his fourth year of marriage and had many concerns about having a second child. He successfully became pregnant by actively utilizing the company's infertility treatment system. Although legally the infertility treatment leave is 3 days (1 paid day/2 unpaid days), the company’s internal regulations allow up to 16 paid days, enabling him to focus on infertility treatment. Kim said, "Now that I have succeeded in becoming pregnant, I am using the shortened working hours system during pregnancy and can focus on both work and the fetus, which is great." ServiceTop Co., Ltd. has expanded the automatic parental leave system and infertility treatment leave (from 3 days to 16 days). It also supports employees’ maternal and paternal protection and work-family balance by providing monthly obstetrics and gynecology medical and medication expenses.

[Image source=Pixabay]

These two companies received family-friendly certification certificates and presidential citations at the ‘2023 Family-Friendly Certification and Government Awards Ceremony’ held by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on the 19th at the HW Convention in Jongno-gu. Including them, a total of 18 awards will be given to outstanding family-friendly companies this year: 3 presidential citations, 5 prime minister citations, and 10 minister of gender equality and family citations.

This year, 2,476 companies applied for family-friendly certification, and 2,183 of them passed the certification criteria. Family-friendly companies extend the certification validity period once (for 2 years) after the initial certification (3 years) and maintain certification through re-certification after 5 years from the first application. As of 2023, there are a total of 5,911 family-friendly certified companies, an increase of 496 from 2022, with 4,110 small and medium-sized enterprises accounting for 69.5% of all certified companies.

This year, the top family-friendly companies include 10 companies that have maintained certification for 15 years since 2009 for large corporations and 12 years since 2012 for mid-sized and small enterprises.

By category, large corporations include ▲Samkwang (first certified in 2009) ▲HanmiGlobal (2009) ▲HanmiGlobal (2009) ▲Lotte Shopping (2009) ▲Maeil Dairies (2009) ▲SK Hynix (2009) ▲Dongwha World Educo (2009), and small and medium enterprises include ▲Mirae Company (2012) ▲Wonjin M&T (2012) ▲365 Hospital (2012) ▲Dongnam Special Steel (2012).

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hyun-sook is taking a commemorative photo with company officials designated as the top family-friendly certified companies at the '2023 Family-Friendly Certification and Government Awards Ceremony' held at HW Convention in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 19th.
[Image provided by Ministry of Gender Equality and Family] [Image source: Yonhap News]

HanmiGlobal mandates female workers to take 3 months of parental leave after maternity leave and supports the salary difference with government subsidies up to 1 million KRW per month during the mandatory leave period. Additionally, parental leave is extended to 2 years per child, and work-from-home during childcare is also extended to 2 years. For the birth of a third child, special promotion is granted, and for the fourth child, childcare assistance is provided for one year.

Lotte Shopping supports 3 days of paid ‘Expectant Father Ultrasound Leave’ allowing spouses to accompany the fetus for checkups during pregnancy. For infertility support, it provides 1 million KRW and 3 days of leave to employees undergoing infertility treatment and has newly established 3 months of unpaid infertility leave.

SK Hynix has expanded spousal paternity leave by providing up to 20 days of paid leave in addition to the legally mandated 10 days, depending on the number of children born. Also, in the year a child enters elementary school, up to 3 months of unpaid leave is granted.