Seven in 10 Korean Workers Covering Parental Leave Receive No Extra Pay
A survey of 1,000 employees in South Korea found that nearly half had absorbed extra duties when colleagues used parental leave or reduced working hours, while most of those affected received no additional compensation.
A large majority of South Korean employees who have taken on extra work for colleagues using family-related leave received no additional compensation, according to a new workplace survey that highlights gaps in support for work-family policies.
Workplace Gapjil 119 said Sunday that 47.8 percent of 1,000 employees surveyed nationwide had experienced an increase in workload because a colleague took maternity or parental leave, or reduced working hours for child care. The advocacy group commissioned Global Research to conduct the poll among workers aged 19 and older from Sept. 1 to 7.
Among the 478 respondents who said they had performed a colleague’s duties, only 29.5 percent reported receiving separate compensation such as an allowance. The remaining 70.5 percent said they handled the additional work without extra pay.
The compensation gap was especially pronounced at smaller workplaces. Workers who belonged to labor unions, worked at businesses with at least 30 employees or earned higher wages were more likely to report being compensated. At workplaces with fewer than 30 employees, only about two in 10 respondents said they had received compensation.
Awareness of government programs intended to offset the burden was also limited. Just 37 percent of respondents knew about a subsidy for sharing the duties of an employee on parental leave. Awareness stood at 29.5 percent for a program covering duties redistributed because of reduced child-care working hours and at 29.7 percent for support tied to a colleague’s paternity leave.
Only 12.4 percent said their workplace actively explained and used the support programs. Another 46.4 percent said the programs were announced but not used in practice, while 41.2 percent said the programs were neither explained nor used. Employees at smaller businesses and those who were not union members reported lower awareness and use.
When asked what compensation should be provided for covering absent colleagues, 27.5 percent favored creating or increasing duty-sharing allowances. Another 24.8 percent called for larger year-end bonuses or advantages in performance reviews, while 19.7 percent preferred special leave proportional to the period of extra work.
Workplace Gapjil 119 called for stronger government support to secure replacement staff and compensate employees who absorb additional duties. It also urged wider promotion of existing programs so that available assistance is translated into actual workplace use. The findings point to a practical challenge for Korea’s parental-leave system: leave may be legally available, but weak staffing and compensation arrangements can shift its cost to coworkers, particularly in small businesses.