Couple Can Use Up to 2-Year Parental Leave
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
A dual-income couple will be able to take parental leave for up to two years in total, beginning June 22, the Ministry of Labor said Thursday.
According to a revised law on gender equality, a parent will be able to apply for the one-year leave for a child aged less than 36 months, while the previous law limited the age to 12 months. Under the new law, a husband and a wife can take leave for up to two years, one year each in turn.
According to the previous law, the leave period terminates automatically when the child reaches 12 months old, whether or not the parent uses the one-year leave fully. But now, the age is expanded to 36 months and the automatic termination will be abolished.
For example, if a mother who gave birth to a baby on Aug. 1 in 2007 applied for the leave on April 1 this year, she could previously take the leave by July 31. But now she can take it by March 31 of the next year. A mother can also divide the one year into two ― using four months after giving birth and using the remaining eight months later.