Benefits for working parents taking a leave of absence to take care of their babies will be increased to a maximum of 39 million won. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Benefits for working parents taking a leave of absence to take care of their babies will be increased to a maximum of 39 million won (US$29,981) per couple next year, the labor ministry said Tuesday.
The Cabinet approved a revised Employment Insurance Act, reflecting expanded parental benefits, during a meeting earlier in the day as part of broader efforts to boost the country’s birth rates, ministry officials said.
Under the revised law, which will go into effect Jan. 1, working parents with a baby aged 18 months or younger will be eligible for a combined parental benefit of up to 39 million won for a six-month duration if both parents take parental leave.
Under the current law, working parents with a baby aged 12 months or younger are eligible for parental leave benefits equivalent to 100 percent of the regular wage they receive from their employers, for a duration of three months.
The revised law also increases the upper limit of the parental leave benefits to 2 million won per person in the first month of absence, 2.5 million won in the second month and 4.5 million won in the sixth month.
A couple, each earning a regular monthly wage of 4.5 million won or more, will collectively receive 39 million won in parental benefits over the first six months of their absence if both of them take parental leave under the revised act.
Beginning in the seventh month of absence, a benefit scheme equivalent to 80 percent of the recipient’s regular month wage, with an upper limit of 1.5 million won, will be applied.
(Yonhap)
