Starting next month, South Korea will allow new fathers to take extra time off for child care.
The government will also provide an additional 30 days of unemployment benefits to those without a job.
Our Kim Jae-hee has the details.
Currently, new dads in South Korea can take up to five days of paternity leave,… which includes three days of paid leave.
However starting next month, the maximum period of paternity leave in South Korea will be raised from 5 days to 10 days,... with full pay for the entire duration.
The application deadline will also be extended, to 90 days after the birth of the child, from the current 30 days.
Also, instead of going on leave for a single, uninterrupted stretch,... fathers will now be able to divide them into two separate time periods.
The revised law also includes measures to further reduce the working hours of new mothers.
Although the current law allows shorter working hours for a maximum of one year,... mothers weren't afforded any additional time off,... if they had already taken a year off for maternity leave.
The new measures will allow mothers of children under the age of eight... to request shorter working hours for a period of one year,... even after returning from maternity leave.
"The ministry has allowed the reduction of working hours for up to two years for the mothers, and has extended the paid leave period for the fathers."
In a separate move,... the duration of unemployment benefits payment will also be extended by thirty days starting October first.
Unemployment benefits will now be offered for a maximum of 270 days, dependent on the recipient's age and his or her enrollment in employment insurance.
Payments will also be raised from the current fifty percent to sixty percent of the country's average wage,… but the hard cap will remain unchanged at 66-thousand Korean won per day,... which is around 55 U.S. dollars.
Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.
