Spouse prenatal and postnatal leave papers and short-term childcare leave: what the August 2026 amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Gender Equality in Employment requires

What changed

Presidential Decree No. 36589 sets out the notice and claim procedures the amended Act delegates. New Article 9-2 requires a worker notifying spouse prenatal and postnatal leave to submit to the employer a document, including an electronic one, stating the day the leave is to be used, the spouse's date of childbirth or expected date of childbirth, and the date of the notice; the employer may request documents proving the pregnancy or childbirth. The former Article 9-2 on infertility treatment leave becomes Article 9-3 unchanged. New Article 9-4 requires a document stating the day of the leave, the date of the spouse's miscarriage or stillbirth and the date of the claim, and lets the employer request proof; it follows the main sentence of Article 18-4(1) of the Act, which this note has not read.

Article 11 now opens childcare leave applications to Article 19(1) main sentence and Article 19(6) of the Act, adds item 7 requiring the reason for an Article 19(6) application, and requires a male worker applying to care for a pregnant spouse not to state the child's name and to state the expected date of childbirth in place of the date of birth. The official reason describes the parent Act, amended by Acts No. 21373 and No. 21476, as allowing 1- or 2-week short-term leave for a child's school vacation or illness and letting a male worker take leave to care for a pregnant spouse at risk of miscarriage or premature birth. Article 11(3) adds premature birth to the risks facing a pregnant female worker and adds a sub-item for a male worker caring for a pregnant spouse, both applying up to 7 days before the intended start date. New Article 11(4) allows an Article 19(6) application up to that date on urgent grounds set by the Ministry of Employment and Labor Ordinance. Old paragraphs 4 to 7 become 5 to 8: permission must be notified in writing or electronically within 14 days for applications under paragraphs 1 and 2, within 3 days for paragraph 3 and without delay for paragraph 4, and no notice means the leave is treated as permitted as applied for; a proviso to Article 13(1) allows withdrawal up to the day before the start date for Article 11(4) applications, and Articles 13(2) and 14(1) now reach a male worker caring for a pregnant spouse after a miscarriage or stillbirth.

In the same decree, Article 15-2 extends the exception definition to 'cases such as serious disruption of normal business operation' and deletes the item on a failed 14-day search for a replacement, Article 16-3(1)(4) names the employment security agency by reference to Article 2-2(1) of the Employment Security Act, not read here, Article 19(5) covers records on the notice and grant of spouse prenatal and postnatal leave, and the violation list in sub-item 'ha' of attached Table 2 replaces 'the spouse's childbirth' with 'the spouse's pregnancy and childbirth' and adds a further sub-item shown only as an image.

What to read in the text

The addendum brings the Decree into force on 18 September 2026, except that the amendments to the Article 11(1) chapeau, Article 11(1)(7), the latter part of Article 11(2), excluding the part on spouse prenatal and postnatal leave, Articles 11(4) to 11(8) and the proviso to Article 13(1) come into force on 20 August 2026; the renaming in Article 11(2) therefore waits until 18 September 2026. The addendum says nothing on pending cases, earlier acts or transitional measures.

A file needs the dates of the notice or claim, of the childbirth or expected childbirth, of the miscarriage or stillbirth and of the leave, the application date against the intended start date (30 days, 7 days or up to that date on urgent grounds), whether leave is sought under Article 19(6) and on what reason, and whether a male worker's leave is to care for a pregnant spouse.

Questions for the legislature

New Article 11(4) allows an application up to the intended start date on 'urgent grounds prescribed by the Ministry of Employment and Labor Ordinance'. That ordinance is not in this pack, and neither the text, the addendum nor the official reason lists the grounds. Which facts must a file show for a ground to count as urgent?

The addendum says certain amendments 'come into force on 20 August 2026' but sets no application rule for earlier conduct, and neither the text nor the official reason supplies one. Is a childcare leave application filed before 20 August 2026 governed by the former Article 11 or by the new paragraphs?

When to revisit

We revisit this note when the Ministry of Employment and Labor Ordinance on urgent grounds is read against Article 11(4), when the added sub-item of the fine schedule appears in readable text, or if an amendment or official interpretation explains how applications filed before 20 August 2026 are treated.