Improvements include expanded parental leave support and tailored job training for women with disabilities; ministry completed all 10 reform tasks
![Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon speaks at an event honoring outstanding labor inspectors and a handwriting relay of the biography of Jeon Tae-il on Saturday. [Ministry of Employment and Labor]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/02/news-p.v1.20260429.2d26da796a674075ba3e24b169f38ac1_P1.jpg)
The Ministry of Employment and Labor will receive a presidential commendation for its achievements in advancing gender-equality policies, including stronger parental leave support and customized job training for women with disabilities.
The ministry announced Wednesday that it had been named the top-performing institution in the 2025 gender-impact assessment, earning the "2026 Presidential Commendation for Contributions to Gender Equality."
The gender-impact assessment evaluates and improves how government policies affect gender equality. This year's assessment covered 309 institutions in total — 49 central government ministries, 17 metropolitan and provincial governments, 226 basic local governments, and 17 city and provincial education offices. The Ministry of Employment and Labor was the sole institution to receive the top honor and the presidential commendation.
Among all participating institutions, the ministry conducted gender-impact assessments on the largest number of budget programs and completed improvements across every program assessed. It identified 10 reform tasks and achieved a 100 percent implementation rate.
Key improvements focused on expanding parental leave benefits and reducing the burden on employers. The ministry raised the second parental leave allowance and introduced an additional subsidy of up to one month for employers who continue to retain replacement workers after the employee on leave returns to work. It also eliminated the requirement to submit documentation proving the designation of a task-sharing worker when applying for a work-sharing support grant.
Support for the employment of women with disabilities was also strengthened. A survey on the economic activity of people with disabilities in the first half of 2025 found that the employment rate for women with disabilities stood at 23.8 percent, well below the 41.5 percent recorded for men with disabilities. In response, the ministry designed customized vocational training programs for women with disabilities and added remote learning options. It also incorporated bonus points based on female participation rates into the performance evaluations of private vocational training institutions for people with disabilities.
Additional measures included adding explicit language to guidelines for the continued-employment incentive for older workers, prohibiting gender discrimination when setting retirement age and rehiring standards. Worker health centers were also directed to sign MOUs with workplaces and institutions employing large numbers of female workers and to provide counseling support.
The ministry had earlier reformed the system to allow workers who gave birth to children with health damage caused by exposure to hazardous substances to receive industrial accident compensation, and became the first central government ministry to introduce employee gender-equality programs such as a fathers' parenting class. Those efforts earned the ministry two separate presidential commendations in 2023 — one for contributions to gender equality and another for innovation in personnel management.
"As the ministry responsible for policies on work-life balance and related areas, we pursued gender equality in the labor market as a core policy value, and the results have been encouraging," Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said. "We will continue working to build a country where all people can find happiness in their work and fully realize their potential."
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