Maternity Leave Is 90 Days and 45 of Them Must Come After the Birth -- Who Pays the First 60 Days Depends on Company Size, and the Benefit Claim Closes 12 Months After the Leave Ends

The leave is 90 days, and at least 45 must come after the birth

The standard is 90 days, 100 days for a premature birth and 120 days when you are carrying two or more babies. You can choose how to split the days, but at least 45 days (60 days for multiple births) must remain after the birth. In other words, you cannot take extra time before the birth by cutting into the after-birth portion. Weekends and holidays count toward the total. For example, if you want 60 of the 90 days after the birth, only 30 are left before it, so you would start leave 30 days before the due date. If you take 45 days before the birth, you are left with exactly 45 days after it, the legal minimum. How leftover days are handled if the baby arrives earlier or later than the due date is something to check in your workplace rules and with HR.

The company pays the first 60 days, and employment insurance covers the rest

The Labor Standards Act makes the first 60 days of maternity leave (75 days for multiple births) paid leave, and the employer must pay 100% of the ordinary wage for that period. The remaining 30 days are paid as a benefit from employment insurance. However, at a priority support company (a smaller company that qualifies for government support), employment insurance supports all 90 days, and the employer covers only the difference between the support and the ordinary wage. Priority support status depends on the number of regular employees by industry, so ask your HR contact or the employment center whether your company qualifies.

At a priority support company, support goes up to KRW 2.1 million a month

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the state supports a priority support company within a limit of KRW 2.1 million per month, and the employer's payment duty shrinks by that amount. If your pay is above KRW 2.1 million a month, the difference is the employer's share, so compare your payslip's ordinary wage with what you are paid. The upper and lower limits for the later 30 days at a large company can change from year to year, so it is safer to check the current figures on Work24 before you apply.

You need 180 days of insurance coverage to claim the benefit

To receive the benefit from employment insurance, your insured period must total at least 180 days before the leave ends. This is the condition that most often trips up people who joined their company recently. You can take the leave under the Labor Standards Act even without 180 days, but no employment insurance benefit is paid in that case. If your hiring date and pregnancy overlap, ask HR about your coverage period early.

You can claim from one month after the leave starts until 12 months after it ends

The claim period runs from one month after the leave start date until 12 months after the leave ends. Once a year has passed since the end of leave, the claim is closed, so write the date down even in the hectic period after the birth. Online, you can apply on the employment insurance website (ei.go.kr) or its mobile app; in person or by mail, go to the employment center that covers your home or workplace. The documents are the benefit application, the maternity leave confirmation (needed only the first time) and a copy of the wage ledger for the three months before the leave began.

Here is how a monthly salary of KRW 3 million would be split

Suppose an employee with an ordinary wage of KRW 3 million a month works at a priority support company (an assumed figure). Employment insurance supports up to KRW 2.1 million a month, and the company covers the roughly KRW 900,000 difference. If the company does not pay the difference, compare your payslip with your deposit records for the leave period. If the company blocks the leave itself or does not pay the difference, you can file a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor's counseling center (1350) or your local labor office.

When the benefit stops or is refused

If you take another job during the leave, the benefit stops from that day. If you apply or receive it fraudulently, it is not paid from that point on. Leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth depends on the length of the pregnancy: 10 days up to week 15, 30 days for weeks 16 to 21, 60 days for weeks 22 to 27 and 90 days from week 28. For leave for a spouse in the same situation, see our article on spousal miscarriage and stillbirth leave.

Summary: check in this order

First, tell your employer you are pregnant and set the start and end dates of the leave, always leaving 45 days after the birth. Second, ask HR whether your company is a priority support company and whether you meet the 180-day insured period. Third, once one month of leave has passed, gather the documents and apply at an employment center or on ei.go.kr. Fourth, if you plan to take parental leave after returning, read our article on parental leave benefit caps and our article on short-term parental leave next. If you need to care for a family member, our article on family care leave is also useful. This is general information and not labor advice; for your workplace's specific situation, check with the Ministry of Employment and Labor (1350) or your local employment center.