KB Kookmin Bank introduces temporary 'retirement' for parents

KB Financial Group Chairman Yang Jong-hee at the inauguration ceremony held at KB Kookmin Bank's headquarters in western Seoul on Nov. 21. [YONHAP]

KB Kookmin Bank will start a welfare program next year that allows employees to temporarily retire for three years in order to care for children.

KB announced the measure last week during a discussion held to combat Korea’s low fertility rate at the National Assembly in western Seoul. The program will start next year.

KB currently offers two years of parental leave for female workers and a year and a half for male employees. Only those who have used that parental leave are able to apply for the new program.

KB said it will allow employees who take the three-year retirement to maintain the same rank and payment when they return to the workplace. They will not have to go through another recruitment process.

“We are adopting the system to help [employees] focus on the raising of their children by retiring for three years before they start elementary school,” said Kim Jae-kwan, senior executive vice president at KB Kookmin Bank.

KB offers a number of additional welfare programs already. Employees with children younger than nine are eligible for shortened working hours for two to four hours, while new parents can start work an hour late during their child's first two months of elementary school.

The bank also supports education for preschool children through university students in various areas, including information technology, and spent 75 billion won ($58 million) on the remodeling of 2,265 elementary schools and kindergartens from 2018 through 2022.

BY SHIN SUNG-SIK [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]