KEF Objects to an Increase on Allowance for Child-Care Leave

Korean Employer Federation (KEF) announce that it made an objection to the government’s plan which an allowance for a child-care leave would be raised to monthly 400,000 won from 200,000won on October 27.

At that day, KEF declared, “The plan on a large increase of the allowance for the child-care leave must be immediately interrupted”. It also said that the government must stop a new revision attempt of an Enforcement Ordinance of Employment Insurance immediately.

KEF blamed in an official statement, “A large increase in the allowance for the child-care leave is kind of the use of patronage for political advantage and is not based on principles. It criticizes that paying out the child-care expense from the funds of employment insurance is out of line with a basic purpose of employment insurance. Accordingly, it is an unreasonable measure that the allowance will be raised within 1 year after legislating last November. Also, the use of the child-care leave is inactive because of insufficient promotion of the initial system enforcement, duties vacuum due to the child-care leave and an insufficiency of social awareness. KEF indicated that the major countries of OECD including US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Portugal, Spain and Holland don’t take the system of the allowance for the child-care leave. Accordingly, KEF announced that an improvement of the related systems such as the transfer of allowance resource to the heath insurance system, the solution of the work vacuum based on the use of child-care and an activation measure of alternative staff use must be preceded.

Yeon-Su Shin ysshin@donga.com