Mandatory Childcare System... Rising 'Pressure' Hurdles [Jjinbit]

Local Governments Mandate Remote Work for Pregnancy and Childcare
Attempts to Avoid Friction Met with Resistance from Colleagues
Crude Approach Without Awareness Improvement Deepens Low Birthrate Issue

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is a shortened form of 'Jung Hyunjin's Business Trend' and 'Real Business Trend,' a segment that showcases trends in the changing world of work.

Local governments nationwide have begun mandating related systems for pregnant and parenting public officials. Seoul City has implemented a mandatory once-a-week remote work policy for public officials with children aged 8 or younger starting this month. This measure was based on a survey conducted among 1,500 parenting public officials. Similarly, Daejeon City has mandated once-a-week remote work for pregnant employees from the same date, and public officials raising children aged 8 or younger or in the second grade or below in elementary school are required to use childcare time at least once a week or four times a month. The target group includes 33 pregnant public officials and 376 parenting public officials, totaling 400 people. Chungnam Province has also been mandating one day of remote work per week for public officials with children aged 2 or younger since last month.

Although legal systems related to pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare are being implemented on a large scale, the biggest obstacle to their activation in the field is the 'pressure' from colleagues. The parental leave system, introduced alongside the enactment of the 'Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act' in 1987, has not been fully established even after nearly 40 years due to this pressure. Because pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare are perceived as highly private matters, employees feel that using these benefits at work inconveniences their supervisors and colleagues, making it difficult to take advantage of them due to this pressure. Not only parental leave but also shortened working hours during pregnancy and special childcare leave are hindered by such pressure.

The scope of this pressure is continuously expanding. As marriage and childbirth are delayed, interest in infertility leave has grown following shortened working hours during pregnancy and parental leave, but even this is difficult to use due to pressure. On infertility forums, many women consider quitting their jobs because they feel pressured even when using infertility leave or taking annual leave. Comments such as, "I had to precisely schedule the egg retrieval date, but my supervisor asked, 'Do you really have to use annual leave?' and I had a hard time explaining my situation. I think I have to quit the company," are common. It truly feels like a 'war of pressure' is blocking solutions to the low birthrate problem.

Measures that mandate the use of these systems are regarded as the best way to solve this pressure issue. In surveys asking about essential policies to address the low birthrate problem, "making parental leave mandatory for both spouses" consistently ranks first. The reason local governments changed pregnancy and childcare-related systems from voluntary to mandatory use was to allow employees to use them without feeling pressured.

However, introducing mandatory policies without careful consideration inevitably causes conflicts within organizations. If perceptions of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare do not significantly change, mandatory policies may lead to situations where some people feel disadvantaged, resulting in clashes. Comments such as "Does this mean someone else has to go when there is work that requires being on-site?" on articles about mandatory remote work for parenting public officials reflect this atmosphere. A crude mandatory policy that treats working moms and dads as adversaries will only harm efforts to solve the low birthrate problem. Such conflicts will generally expand negative perceptions of childbirth and further solidify the low birthrate issue.

Posco, which has been genuinely committed to pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare issues in recent years, decided last month to rename 'parental leave' as 'childcare immersion period.' This change considers employees who feel pressured to use the term 'leave' because it implies taking time off. It also reflects the company's recognition of childcare as part of employees' experiences. Even when mandating systems, a delicate approach that fosters an environment where employees do not feel pressured, based on changes in perception, is needed at this time.