Ministry to mandate pregnant women work at home once a week
Published: 31 Jan. 2025, 18:39
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- LEE SOO-JUNG
- [email protected]
![A sign shows a seat in a subway car is reserved for pregnant women in Seoul on Oct. 9. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/31/0c2074f9-5567-41b5-a425-676469996cc9.jpg)
A sign shows a seat in a subway car is reserved for pregnant women in Seoul on Oct. 9. [NEWS1]
Such a measure is the first of its kind among state agencies and ministries. The ministry said the measure is a “family-friendly guideline which helps workers improve their work-life balance.”
In the previous scheme, pregnant state employees were advised to voluntarily use work-from-home benefits if needed. However, the system was ironically criticized for making pregnant workers remain at the office as they did not want to be seen as "special" while their colleagues worked there.
According to a press release, a pregnant midgrade public official at the ministry said working from home would “reduce the commuting burden."
The ministry will also advise its employees with children 8 years old or under to work from home one day a week.
The Personnel Management Ministry will let its workers flexibly shorten their lunchtime to a half hour and leave work 30 minutes earlier than usual.
The regular lunch break is 60 minutes. The former mechanism, which allowed workers to extend their lunchtime to two hours, was blamed for being “inefficient” as it required them to work an hour longer.
Additionally, the ministry will advise its employees to autonomously adjust their working hours as long as they clock 40 hours per week.
Early release from work and a flexible work schedule would help workers invest their evening hours to nurture personal skills, hobbies and parenting.
If the ministry’s employees show a high level of satisfaction after six months of internal piloting, the Ministry of Personnel Management will implement the abovementioned measures across all governmental agencies and ministries.
![People use a space and facilities designed for so-called workcation in Busan on March 26, 2023. Workcation, an amalgam combining work and vacation, refers to working remotely while on leave. [SONG BONG-GEUN]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/31/9bb7c31f-a326-44df-8214-75ff1d7e1104.jpg)
People use a space and facilities designed for so-called workcation in Busan on March 26, 2023. Workcation, an amalgam combining work and vacation, refers to working remotely while on leave. [SONG BONG-GEUN]
However, a guideline that encouraged its workers to leave work at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays would be abolished after its decade-long implementation. An official from the ministry said the guideline was no longer necessary since most state workers now leave on time.
“The ministry has prepared a new set of labor guidelines intended to transform bureaucratic society into a flexible and efficient organization,” Yeon Won-jeong, minister of personnel management, said. “The measures that prove successful will be implemented across governmental bodies."
BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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