Korea's Reduced Working Hours for Childcare: Up to 3 Years Until Your Child Turns 12, With Pay Split by Hour Band
If parental leave means stepping away from work entirely to care for a child, reduced working hours for childcare lets you stay employed while simply working fewer hours each day. The program is based on Korea's Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation, and any employee raising a child age 12 or under (up to sixth grade) can apply regardless of gender. You don't have to choose one program over the other -- for the same child, you can use parental leave and reduced hours at different times, which is the part people mix up most often in practice.
After parental leave, the next option is "reduced hours," not another leave
If you didn't use all your parental leave, you get up to 3 years
The basic period is one year per child. But if you didn't use your full year of parental leave, the unused portion is added to your reduced-hours period, for a maximum of three years. For example, if you took only six months of a one-year parental leave before returning to work, you can add the remaining six months to your reduced-hours allowance and apply for a year and a half. You can also split this across different periods as needed, any time before your child turns 12.
How many hours can you cut?
After the reduction, your weekly working hours must fall between 15 and 35 hours. If you normally work 40 hours a week, you can cut down to as little as 15 hours (roughly 3 hours a day), or as much as 35 hours. You'll still need to work out the actual days and hours with your employer, and where the law recognizes a valid reason -- such as the employer genuinely being unable to find a replacement, or the nature of the work making a substitute impractical -- the employer can ask to adjust the timing. Still, the grounds on which an employer can refuse the request outright are narrowly limited by law, and refusing without a valid reason can result in a fine.
Pay is calculated differently depending on how many hours you cut
Pay is where people get confused most. When you work reduced hours, your salary from your employer drops in proportion to the hours you cut, but part of that gap is covered by reduced-hours childcare benefits from employment insurance. The calculation splits the hours you cut into two bands. The first 10 hours of reduction are paid at 100% of ordinary wages (capped at 2.2 million won a month), and anything beyond 10 hours is paid at 80% (capped at 1.5 million won a month), with the two added together. For example, if you go from a 40-hour week to a 20-hour week (a 20-hour reduction), the first 10 hours fall into the 100% band and the remaining 10 hours fall into the 80% band. The smaller the reduction, the larger the 100% band's share of your benefit.
Where and how do you apply for the benefit?
The reduced-hours childcare benefit isn't applied for by your employer -- you apply directly through employment insurance (your local Employment Welfare Plus Center). You apply every month after starting reduced hours, either in person at the center covering your residence or workplace, or online through the Employment Insurance website or mobile app. You'll need a confirmation document from your employer (such as a reduced-hours work confirmation), so it helps to ask HR for it first. Missing the application deadline can mean losing that month's payment entirely, so it's worth building a habit of applying every month from the first month you start reduced hours.
Using both programs in the same year can lower your total benefit
Parental leave benefits and reduced-hours benefits are calculated on different bases, and splitting parental leave and reduced hours within the same year can change your total benefit for that year. This matters especially when a couple splits time raising the same child -- who goes first and for how long can change the combined total the two of you receive -- so it's safer to ask your local Employment Welfare Plus Center or the Ministry of Employment and Labor's customer center (1350) about your specific situation before applying. This article lays out the basic structure of the program; the fine print can vary with your workplace's employment rules and your own length of service.
Employers can only refuse in limited cases
Aside from statutory exceptions -- such as an employee with less than six months of service -- an employer generally cannot refuse a request for reduced working hours. To refuse on the grounds that a replacement is hard to find, the employer must substantiate that reason, and even then the law calls for adjusting the hours or timing through consultation rather than an outright refusal. Refusing the request without valid grounds, or treating an employee unfavorably because of the request, can result in a fine for the employer.
The two programs share the same legal basis but differ completely in whether you're working and how pay is calculated. Sorting out which one fits your situation before you apply makes the conversation with the Employment Welfare Plus Center go much faster.
| Category | Parental leave | Reduced working hours for childcare |
|---|---|---|
| Work status | Fully off work (unpaid leave) | Continue working the reduced hours |
| Basic period | 1 year per child | 1 year per child (up to 3 years if unused leave is added) |
| Benefit calculation | Flat bands based on ordinary wages (parental leave benefit) | Hours split at the 10-hour mark into 100%/80% bands |
| Social insurance | Coverage continues during leave (partial premium exemption/deferral available) | Premiums paid normally, proportional to pay since you're still working |
Social insurance premiums are based on the hours you actually work and the pay you actually receive, so reducing your hours lowers your premiums as well. To receive the benefit, you must work the reduced hours for at least 30 days, and you must have at least 180 days of combined employment-insurance coverage before the day you start reduced hours. If you're relatively new to your job, check this 180-day requirement first.
Worth checking alongside this
If you're preparing for reduced working hours, it also helps to check how annual leave is calculated while you're on reduced hours. If your employer has instead notified you that your contract is ending, it helps to know when dismissal notice pay is and isn't owed. And if your weekly hours drop once you start reduced hours, it's worth confirming the conditions under which weekly holiday pay still applies.
Reduced working hours for childcare isn't a program where the benefit is calculated and paid automatically once you apply -- it's a program with a monthly procedure that the employee has to handle directly. Before starting reduced hours, checking your eligible period and expected benefit with the Employment Welfare Plus Center based on your length of service and your child's age makes the conversation with your employer go far more smoothly. Because it's common in practice to miss several months of applications at once, marking your application date on a calendar separately from payday can make a real difference.
All content is fact-checked under our editorial standards.