Substitute Worker Subsidy Extended by One Month... Parental Leave Reduced Hours Benefit Cap Raised

Relevant Amendments Approved at Cabinet Meeting on the 16th

Going forward, the period for providing subsidies for substitute workers covering parental leave will be extended to up to one month after the employee returns to work. The subsidy will be paid in full for the entire period the substitute worker is employed. The maximum parental leave reduced working hours benefit will increase to 2.5 million won for the first 10 hours reduced per week.

Kim Younghoon, Minister of Employment and Labor. Photo by Yonhap News

On December 16, the government reviewed and approved partial amendments to the "Employment Insurance Act" and the "Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Collection of Employment Insurance and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Premiums," both under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, during a Cabinet meeting held at the Government Complex Sejong.

With this amendment, the period for providing subsidies for substitute workers during parental leave will be extended by up to one month. Previously, the subsidy was paid for up to two months before the start of parental leave and during the leave itself. Now, an additional month after the employee returns to work will be covered. In addition, the subsidy will be paid in full for the entire period the substitute worker is employed.

To promote the use of reduced working hours during parental leave, the upper limit for calculating the reduced working hours benefit will be raised. The maximum benefit for the first 10 hours reduced per week (100% of ordinary wages) will increase from 2.2 million won to 2.5 million won, and for any additional reduced hours (80% of ordinary wages), the upper limit will rise from 1.5 million won to 1.6 million won.

Due to next year’s minimum wage increase, the lower limit for job-seeking benefits, which is linked to the minimum wage, has surpassed the upper limit. To address this, the upper limit of the daily wage used to calculate job-seeking benefits will be raised from 110,000 won to 113,500 won. In addition, a legal basis has been established to allow the Korea Labor Foundation to be entrusted with the administration of the four-and-a-half-day workweek support program, which will be launched next year.