Infertility Treatment Leave in Korea: Brief Guide, Part 1
This is the first post in a short series on infertility treatment leave in Korea, a benefit many HR teams know exists but may have not had a chance to run it in practice. This first post covers the basics.
What Infertility Treatment Leave Is
Infertility treatment leave is a statutory leave available to any employee, male or female, who is planning or undergoing treatment for infertility. The right is set out in the Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation.
The leave covers more than the day of the procedure itself. It extends to the necessary preparation stage before treatment, such as fertility testing and ovulation induction visits, the day of the medical procedure, and the recovery or rest period immediately afterward.
How Many Days, and How Much Is Paid
Employees can use up to six days of infertility treatment leave per year. Under the current rule, the first two days are paid. Starting November 27, 2026, that paid period expands to the first four days, following a legislative amendment.
This leave applies regardless of company size. Every employer, large or small, must grant it to a qualifying employee who requests it. The government wage subsidy that helps cover the paid days, however, is narrower. It is only available to employees at companies classified as priority support enterprises under the Employment Insurance Act, generally smaller and mid-sized businesses.
What Employers Must Do, and Must Not Do
An employer who receives a leave request from an eligible employee must grant it. Refusing to do so carries an administrative fine.
An employer also cannot dismiss, discipline, or otherwise disadvantage an employee because that employee used infertility treatment leave. Starting November 27, 2026, this protection carries a criminal penalty as well.
There is also a confidentiality duty that is easy to overlook. Anything an employer or HR staff learns about an employee's personal circumstances while processing a leave request cannot be shared with others without the employee's consent, even if the employee never specifically asked for confidentiality. Given how sensitive infertility treatment can be, this duty deserves the same operational attention as any other data-handling obligation, not just a line in a policy document.
How Employees Apply for the Leave Itself
Leave is generally taken in full-day units. Some workplaces allow it to be taken in hourly units instead, where that has been agreed through labor-management consultation or set out in work rules. There is no default hourly entitlement under the statute itself, so companies that want to offer this flexibility need to build it into their own policies.
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This post is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance on structuring or administering infertility treatment leave at your company in Korea, please consult qualified Korean counsel.
