The Employment and Labor Ministry said Wednesday that it will fortify its crackdown on businesses giving unfair treatment to pregnant workers or those on parental leave by sharing relevant information with the Welfare Ministry.
The Labor Ministry will receive health insurance data on pregnancies and childbirths from the Health and Welfare Ministry to use them in managing and checking businesses that wrongfully dismiss such employees or refuse to grant parental leave.
The information sharing between the ministries will be stipulated in the revised Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation. The Cabinet approved the revision that will be handed over to the National Assembly for final approval.
Up until now, it was difficult to crackdown on unfair cases during pregnancy and upon childbirth unless the employee filed a report.
With the change, the ministry will be able to investigate the case when an employee changes the employment status for “involuntary” reasons during one’s pregnancy or post-childbirth.
The ministry will also be able to look into cases where an employee fails to apply for paid parental leave even when the due date has well passed.
The employment insurance currently gives up to 1.35 million won ($1,140) monthly for one to three months for a worker on baby break.
Last year’s health insurance statistics showed that while 105,633 employees gave birth, only 88,266 were counted as those on parental leave based on the employment insurance tally.
This means about 17,000 workers failed to receive due paid leave or were forced to leave the company.
Based on the Labor Standards Act, an employer can face up to five years of imprisonment or fine of up to 30 million won for dismissing an employee during one’s pregnancy or soon after childbirth. Those that refuse to give paid child care leave are subject to up to two years in prison or penalty of up to 10 million won.
From news reports
