90 days of maternity leave pays ₩8.2M, not ₩9M — and who pays it depends on the size of the company

Maternity leave: 90 days. How much does an employee earning ₩3M a month receive over that period? Not ₩3M × 3 months = ₩9M. ₩8.2M. ₩800,000 disappeared. And there is something stranger: who pays it depends entirely on the size of the company. At a small company, employment insurance pays ₩6.6M and the employer adds ₩1.6M; at a large company, the employer pays ₩6M and employment insurance only ₩2.2M. The amount in the employee's hand is the same, but the wallet is different. And the father has 20 days.

First step: the 90-day clock. Article 74 of the Labor Standards Act. An employer must grant a pregnant employee 90 days of maternity leave around the birth (100 days for a premature birth, 120 for twins or more). There is a rule for placing it: at least 45 days must fall after the birth, 60 for twins. So up to 45 days can be taken before the birth, and with grounds such as a previous miscarriage, the pre-birth portion can be split. This leave is not granted on request. It must be granted. The employer cannot refuse, and when it ends the employee must be returned to the same work or a position paying the same level of wages.

The money structure is foreshadowed in this article: the first 60 days of the leave are paid (75 for twins). But where employment insurance pays the maternity leave benefit, the employer is released from liability up to that amount. The employer would owe all of it, but need not pay what employment insurance has paid. This one sentence creates the wallet problem of the next step.

Second step: the wallet. Articles 75 and 76 of the Employment Insurance Act. With 180 days or more of coverage before the leave ends, you receive the maternity leave benefit, based on ordinary wages and subject to a cap. Here the size of the company is the fork. At a priority-support company (in plain terms, a small or medium company) employment insurance pays all 90 days. At a large company that is not, the employer pays the first 60 days at ordinary wages and employment insurance pays only the last 30. Monthly ordinary wage ₩3M, 90 days. At a small or medium company, employment insurance pays ₩6.6M up to the cap and the employer tops up the ₩1.6M short of full pay for the first 60 days. At a large company, the employer pays the first 60 days, ₩6M, as is, and employment insurance pays ₩2.2M for the last 30. The employee's total is ₩8.2M either way. Knowing this matters because the application counter differs: the employment insurance benefit is paid only when the employee applies at an employment center, within 12 months after the leave ends. Priority-support status is set by industry and headcount, so check on the employment insurance website.

Third step: the missing ₩800,000. The employment insurance benefit has a cap set by notice: ₩6.6M for 90 days. Per day that is ₩73,333; converted back to a monthly ordinary wage, ₩2.2M. Anyone earning more cannot receive more than ₩6.6M from employment insurance for the 90 days. So the ₩3M employee receives ₩2.2M rather than ₩3M for the last 30 days, and the ₩800,000 difference is what disappeared. The employer fills the first 60 days at ordinary wages but has no duty to fill the last 30.

Fourth step: the father's 20 days. Article 18-2 of the Equal Employment Act. When a spouse gives birth, the employee gets 20 days of spousal leave, all paid. It must be used within 120 days of the birth and can be split into up to 3 parts, and dismissal or disadvantage on account of the leave is prohibited. The wallet splits here too. At a priority-support company, employment insurance pays the 20 days, capped by notice at ₩1,684,210. At ₩3M a month the 20 days come to ₩2M, so employment insurance pays ₩1,684,210 and the employer adds the ₩315,790 difference. At a large company, not a won comes from employment insurance and the employer pays the full ₩2M. The amount received is the same. And a change is coming: the amended law takes effect on 18 September 2026 (scheduled), renaming it spousal pre- and post-natal leave and allowing it from 50 days before the due date. Today it can be taken only from the day of birth; after the change it can cover hospital visits and preparations before the birth. The 20 days, the 3 splits and the 120-day deadline stay the same, and if the due date falls after the effective date the new rule applies.

Now the household income table. A dual-income household expecting a child writes three lines. Line one, the mother's 90 days: monthly ordinary wage minus ₩2.2M is the reduction for the last 30 days (₩800,000 at ₩3M, ₩1.8M at ₩4M). Line two, the father's 20 days: fully paid, no reduction, only the wallet changes with company size. Line three, the application list. The mother's benefit is applied for by herself at an employment center, from one month after the leave starts at a small or medium company, from one month after day 60 has passed at a large one. The father's benefit, at a priority-support company, is also self-applied. Two things easily missed. One: the 180-day requirement is measured at the end of the leave, so if you joined recently, count the days. Two: check that your pay slip separates the employer's share from employment insurance's share. If the split is wrong, the wallet of step two was opened incorrectly.

Two things to do now. First, if a birth is ahead, build the 90-day income table in advance from ordinary wages and company size. Second, mark the application deadline and the 180-day requirement on the calendar, because the benefit is money you must apply for. The scope of ordinary wages, priority-support status, and leave for miscarriage or stillbirth differ case by case, so when unsure, check with an employment center or a labor attorney. The income of the 90 days in which a child is born is not the employer's goodwill. It is a table the law has already set.