A court has ruled that if a worker did not receive parental leave pay because the first parental leave was taken for less than a month, the worker can receive the pay for the first parental leave when taking a second parental leave. The labor office had decided not to pay parental leave benefits by strictly applying the rules, but the court found the labor office's legal interpretation to be contrary to common sense.
The Administrative Division 7 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Kang Woo-chan) ruled for the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by A against the head of the Seoul Nambu District Office of the Seoul Regional Office of Employment and Labor, seeking to overturn a disposition denying parental leave benefits.
A took parental leave twice: for 21 days from Mar. 25 to Apr. 14, 2024, to care for a second child, and for about 11 months from Sept. 1, 2024, to Aug. 10 last year.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), to receive parental leave benefits, the worker must take at least 30 days of parental leave for the same child. If there was parental leave taken within the past 12 months from the application date, the periods can be combined, and benefits can be received if the total is 30 days or more. The application period runs from one month after the start of the parental leave to within 12 months after it ends.
During the second parental leave, A applied for and received benefits three times. On May 18 last year, A applied for benefits for the first parental leave. The labor office did not pay, citing that the application was filed after 12 months had passed from the end date of the parental leave (Apr. 14, 2024).
The court found that A can receive benefits for the 21 days of the first parental leave. The court held that "the claim to parental leave benefits for this period arises when the second parental leave begins and the combined period reaches 30 days."
During the trial, the labor office argued that because A had the right to apply for benefits for the first parental leave, the application deadline should run from the end of the first parental leave.
The court said, "Sound law and legal interpretation reflect 'common sense,'" and added, "In a situation where it is legally clear that an application would not be accepted even if submitted, the highly formalistic claim that 'failing to submit even a to-be-rejected application in advance and obtain even a rejection could be disadvantageous later' even feels like a 'discourtesy' to the people as sovereigns."