Parental leave pay calculator

Rules and sources

• Months 1 to 3: 100% of the monthly ordinary wage, cap 2,500,000 won. Months 4 to 6: 100%, cap 2,000,000 won. Month 7 on: 80%, cap 1,600,000 won. The floor is 700,000 won in every month (Employment Insurance Act Enforcement Decree art. 95(1)).
• The amount is fixed by the ordinary wage on the leave start date, and these rules apply to leave periods from 1 January 2025. The start date sets which month of leave each day falls in, so it changes the amounts. Pay comes every month during the leave; the old 25% paid after return no longer exists.
• Split leave is added up, and a month that is not complete is paid by days (art. 95(2)(3)).
• 6+6: when both parents take leave for the same child, each starting within 18 months of birth, each parent gets 100% for the first 6 months with caps of 2.5, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 million won for the months both take. Months after that common period follow the general schedule (art. 95-3(1), MOEL reply of 15 October 2024).
• Single parent: cap 3,000,000 won for months 1 to 3, then the general schedule (art. 95-3(3)).
• Leave is up to 1 year, plus 6 months if both parents each take 3 months or more, for a single parent, or for a parent of a disabled child (Equal Employment Act art. 19(2)).
• You need at least 30 days of leave and 180 insured paid days before the start. Apply on Work24 or at a job center from 1 month after the start to 12 months after the end (Employment Insurance Act art. 70).
• If company payments plus this benefit exceed the monthly ordinary wage, the excess is deducted (decree art. 98).
• Reduced hours pay: the first 10 hours a week at 100% of the ordinary wage (cap 2,500,000 won), the rest at 80% (cap 1,600,000 won), both with a 500,000 won floor, divided by the weekly hours before the change (decree art. 104-2, from 1 January 2026).

This is an estimate; the job center decides the actual amount. It is a guide, not legal advice.