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'We can fire you anyway': 42% of Korean workers say they can't take parental leave

Published: 01 Jun. 2025, 17:03

A child enters day care center in Seoul on Feb. 11. [NEWS1]

Nearly four in 10 Korean workers are unable to freely use maternity or parental leave, according to a new survey released Sunday by Gapjil 119, a civic group that advocates for workplace rights.

The organization also revealed dozens of cases in which workers were pressured, penalized or humiliated for attempting to take time off for childbirth or child rearing.

In a survey of 1,000 workers conducted from Feb. 10 to 17, 36.6 percent of respondents said they could not freely use maternity leave, which is granted to birthing parents for the purpose of childbirth and recovery, while 42.4 percent said the same about parental leave, which is granted to all parents after birth for the purpose of child rearing.

The problem was more pronounced among nonregular workers, or employees including many temps and contractors who are excluded from Korea's standard labor protections, with 46.5 percent unable to freely use maternity leave and 52.3 percent unable to take parental leave — both of which were around 10 percentage points higher than the rates among standard employees.

The disparity was also stark by company size. Among employees at workplaces with 300 or more staff, 28.8 percent said they had difficulty using parental leave. That figure rose to 57 percent among workers at companies with between 5 and 30 employees.

Gender differences were similarly significant. Among women, 47.7 percent said they could not freely take maternity leave — 20 percentage points higher than the 27.7 percent of men who said the same.

A newborn baby is being picked up by a nurse at a hospital in western Seoul on May 28. [NEWS1]

Gapjil 119 said it received 58 reports in the past year specifically related to what it termed “birth and parenting gapjil,” using the Korean word for abuse of power. The group shared two such cases to illustrate the problem.

In one case, an office worker said she was told to submit her resignation after informing her company she was pregnant.

“We’ll process it as a recommended resignation, so just write the letter,” she recalled being told. Her employer pressured her further, saying, “Even if you hold out, we can fire you anyway.”

Fearing the stress would harm her unborn child, she signed the resignation letter that the company had prepared.

In another case, a public-sector contractor returned to work after taking parental leave but was offered only a one-year contract renewal, unlike her peers who signed two-year contracts. Her team leader falsely claimed she had received inflated pay during her leave, accusing her of “getting more money to take time off.”

Gapjil 119 said the results reflect a widespread and systemic problem with the way Korea’s workplaces handle parental rights.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]