공무원도 '난임 휴직' 쓴다…12월 3일 시행, 원칙적으로 허가

Translation

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management gave public notice on 17 September of amendments to the decrees on the appointment of national and local civil servants that will let public servants who need fertility treatment take a separate 'infertility leave' from the end of this year. The amendments set out the detailed rules for putting into effect, from 3 December, the infertility leave created by the revisions of the National Public Officials Act and the Local Public Officials Act in June. Until now, civil servants who needed fertility treatment had to use sick leave. From now on, those undergoing fertility treatment such as assisted reproduction can apply for infertility leave in its own right, and the appointing authority must grant it as a rule. However, where the leave would run to two years or more per child the applicant is trying to have, or where it is specially necessary for the efficient use of staff, the authority may decide differently after consulting a committee that includes relevant experts. To prevent abuse, the two ministries plan to revise the related administrative rules in the second half of the year to set out the documents required for taking and returning from leave and the standards for managing staff on leave; until the system starts, sick leave can be used as before.