1.

Amendments to the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act (the “Equal Employment Act”)
 

(1)

Introduction of Short-Term Childcare Leave (Article 19 of the Equal Employment Act / Effective August 20, 2026)
 

• To accommodate short-term care needs—such as temporary school or childcare facility closures, school holidays, or a child’s illness—a new statutory entitlement to short-term childcare leave will be introduced.

• Eligible employees may use this leave once per calendar year for a duration of either one week or two weeks.

• Although any period of short-term childcare leave will count against the employee’s total childcare leave entitlement; however, it will not count toward the statutory limit on the number of permitted childcare leave installments.
   

(2)

Expansion of the Period for Taking Spousal Childbirth Leave and Change in Terminology (Article 18-2 of the Equal Employment Act / Effective September 18, 2026)
 

• The current “Spousal Childbirth Leave,” which may be taken only within 120 days after childbirth, will be expanded to allow employees to begin taking leave as early as 50 days before the expected date of childbirth. Correspondingly, the statutory name of the leave will be changed to “Spousal Pre- and Post-Childbirth Leave.”

• By allowing employees to take spousal leave before childbirth, this amendment aims to enhance caregiving support for pregnant spouses and their unborn children.
   

(3)

Introduction of Spousal Miscarriage and Stillbirth Leave (Article 18-4 of the Equal Employment Act / Effective September 18, 2026)
 

• A new statutory leave entitlement will be introduced for male employees whose spouse experiences a miscarriage or stillbirth.

• Under the amendment, eligible employees will be entitled to up to five days of leave, of which the first three days must be paid.

• The leave must be requested within 20 days from the date of the miscarriage or stillbirth.
   

(4)

Expansion of Childcare Leave for Male Employees Caring for Pregnant Spouses (Article 19 of the Equal Employment Act / Effective September 18, 2026)
 

• Currently, male employees can take childcare leave only after the birth of a child. Under the amendment, this will be expanded to permit male employees to take childcare leave before childbirth where their pregnant spouse is at risk of a miscarriage or premature birth.

• Any childcare leave used for this purpose will count against the employee’s total childcare leave entitlement; however, it will not count toward the statutory limit on the number of permitted childcare leave installments.
   

(5)

Narrowing the Grounds for Refusing Reduced Working Hours During Childcare Period (Article 19-2 of the Equal Employment Act / Effective September 18, 2026)
 

• Under this amendment, employers may no longer refuse an employee’s request for reduced working hours during the childcare period solely on the grounds that the employer is unable to hire replacement personnel.
   

(6)

Expansion of Paid Leave for Infertility Treatment (Article 18-3 of the Equal Employment Act / Effective November 27, 2026)
 

• Employers remain required to grant up to six days of infertility treatment leave per year upon an employee’s request.

• However, the paid portion of this leave will expand from the first two days to the first four days.
   

(7)

Explicit Inclusion of Corporate Representatives under Workplace Sexual Harassment Prohibitions and Expansion of Individuals Subject to Penalties (Articles 12 and 39 of the Equal Employment Act / Effective November 27, 2026)
 

• Under the amendment, corporate representatives are now explicitly included in the scope of individuals prohibited from committing workplace sexual harassment.

• Furthermore, the amendment expands the scope of individuals subject to administrative penalties. Previously, fines could only be imposed on the employer, making it difficult to penalize the employer’s relatives who commit harassment. Moving forward, corporate representatives, as well as supervisors or employees who are relatives of either the employer or the corporate representative, will face the same administrative fines as employers if they commit workplace sexual harassment.
   

2.

Amendments to the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act (the “ERBSA”) and the Labor Standards Act (the “LSA”)
 

(1)

Increased Criminal Penalties for Failure to Pay Statutory Retirement Benefits (Article 43 of the ERBSA / Effective September 18, 2026)
 

• To strengthen enforcement against unpaid retirement benefits, the maximum criminal penalty will increase from imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to KRW 30 million, to imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to KRW 50 million.
   

(2)

Increased Criminal Penalties for Failure to Pay Wages (Article 107 of the LSA / Effective October 8, 2026)
 

• To prevent unpaid wage violations, the maximum criminal penalty will increase from imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to KRW 30 million, to imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to KRW 50 million.
   

(3)

New Exception to Mandatory Rest Break Requirements for Four-Hour Work (Article 54 of the LSA / Effective December 10, 2026)
 

• Under the current LSA, employees working four hours are entitled to a mandatory rest break of at least 30 minutes. In practice, this has created inconvenience where employees wishing to leave immediately after completing a four-hour work were nevertheless required to remain at the workplace solely to satisfy the statutory rest break requirement.

• To address this issue, the amended law permits employers to waive the mandatory rest break where an employee who works four hours a day expressly requests to forego it.
   

(4)

Statutory Recognition of Partial-Day Annual Paid Leave (Article 60 of the LSA / Effective June 10, 2027)
 

• Under the current LSA, annual paid leave has been prescribed on the premise that it would be taken in full-day increments. The amended LSA expressly codifies a statutory basis for employees to take annual paid leave in smaller increments, subject to the “hourly increments and annual limits prescribed by Presidential Decree.”

• On July 13, 2026, the Korean government published proposed amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the LSA, which define the prescribed hourly increments and annual limits as half-day increments and up to five days per year, respectively. Although these proposed amendments remain subject to revision during the legislative process, if adopted in their current form, employees would be permitted to take up to five days of annual paid leave in half-day increments (typically four hours each), allowing for a maximum of ten half-day leave periods annually.
   

(5)

Express Prohibition Against Adverse Treatment for Using Annual Paid Leave and Introduction of Criminal Penalties (Articles 60 and 114 of the LSA / Effective June 10, 2027)
 

• The amended LSA expressly prohibits employers from dismissing or otherwise subjecting employees to adverse treatment because they request or use statutory annual paid leave.

• To reinforce this protection, the amendment also introduces a new criminal penalty imposing a fine of up to KRW 5 million on employers who violate this protection.