If you take reduced hours instead of full leave, the first decision is how many hours to cut. The benefit comes in two layers, so cutting twice as much does not pay twice as much.
1. What it pays. The first 10 hours a week are 100% of ordinary wage (cap ₩2.5M); anything beyond that is 80% (cap ₩1.6M), floor ₩500k. So the first 10 hours are the cheapest hours to give up, and cutting 20 does not double the benefit.
2. Where the risk is. Work24 carries two different sets of numbers — the programme page still shows 2025 figures (₩2.2M / ₩1.5M), while the calculator page, which splits by year, shows 2026 (₩2.5M / ₩1.6M). There is also a time limit: one year after the reduction ends, the benefit is gone.
3. What to do. Post-reduction hours must be at least 15 and no more than 35 a week — on a 40-hour week that means a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 25. Two things people miss: unused parental leave carries over here, up to three years total, and the child age limit is 12 / school year 6, wider than parental leave's 8 / year 2.
Start with the two different cap figures.
Program guide page (last updated July 9, 2025)
“First 10 hours per week: 100% of monthly ordinary wage (cap 2.2m won) / remaining reduction: 80% (cap 1.5m won)”
Calculator page
“First 10 hours: 2.2m won (from Jan 1, 2025), 2.5m won (from Jan 1, 2026) / remaining: 1.5m won (Jul 2024–Dec 2025), 1.6m won (from Jan 1, 2026)”
— Work24, Reduced Working Hours for Childcare — program guide and calculator guidance
The caps rose on January 1, 2026 (2.2m → 2.5m, 1.5m → 1.6m won). But the program guide still shows the 2025 numbers. Even within one site, pages update at different times.
The benefit comes in two layers
This is the part people misread. A single rate does not apply to the whole reduction.
| Tier | Share of ordinary wage | Cap (from 2026) | Cap (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| First 10 hours/week | 100% | 2,500,000 won | 2,200,000 won |
| Remaining reduction | 80% | 1,600,000 won | 1,500,000 won |
| Floor | 500,000 won | ||
In practice. Going from a 40-hour week to 30 replaces those 10 hours at 100% of ordinary wage. Cutting a further 10 hours replaces the extra at 80%. So the first 10 hours are the cheapest hours to give up. Deciding how much to reduce without knowing about this tier is different from deciding with it.
How much, and for how long
| Item | What Work24 says |
|---|---|
| Child's age | “A child aged 12 or under, or in grade 6 or below” |
| Employment type | “Permanent status or type of work does not matter” |
| Duration | “Within 1 year (up to 3 years when unused parental leave is added)” |
| Allowed range | “Post-reduction hours must be at least 15 per week and no more than 35” |
| Minimum use | “30 days or more” |
| Filing | “From one month after starting until 12 months after ending” |
The age window is much wider than for parental leave. Parental leave stops at age 8 / grade 2; this runs to age 12 / grade 6. Once a child is past the leave threshold, this program is still available.
“At least 15 and no more than 35 hours” is a threshold on both sides. You cannot cut too much (below 15) or too little (above 35). On a 40-hour week that means you must cut at least 5 hours and may cut at most 25.
Put both thresholds and both layers on one axis and you can see how the choice splits.
Up to three years — unused leave carries over here
This is the least-known part. The base is one year, but parental leave you did not use is added, up to three years total.
| Situation | Available reduced-hours period |
|---|---|
| Used all your parental leave | The base 1 year |
| Used none of it | Unused period added, up to 3 years |
| Used part of it | The remainder is added |
So “leave or reduced hours” is not an either/or. If income is the binding constraint, going long on reduced hours is a real option. That said, the exact conversion rule for the carry-over is not stated on the Work24 page.
How it differs from parental leave
| Item | Parental leave | Reduced working hours |
|---|---|---|
| Child's age | 8 or under / grade 2 | 12 or under / grade 6 |
| Base duration | Up to 1 year 6 months | 1 year (up to 3 with carry-over) |
| Benefit structure | Months 1–3 100% (2.5m) / 4–6 100% (2.0m) / 7+ 80% (1.6m) | First 10 hrs/wk 100% (2.5m) / remainder 80% (1.6m) |
| Floor | Not stated on Work24 | 500,000 won |
| Minimum use | 30 days | 30 days |
| Filing window | From 1 month after start to 12 months after end (identical) | |
The decision rule: if you need to limit the income gap and stretch the period, reduced hours wins; if your child is past 8, reduced hours is the only option left. Conversely, if this is a period requiring full-time care and your partner can take leave too, the 6+6 caps make leave the stronger choice. The base scheme is in the parental leave guide.
“15 hours” appears twice here — meaning different things
The same page uses 15 hours a week in two places: once as a requirement, once as a payment restriction. They are easy to conflate, so here they are side by side.
| Where | Work24 source text | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Requirement | “After the reduction, working hours must be at least 15 per week and no more than 35” | You must work at least this much |
| Restriction | “Where contracted working hours are 15 or more per week” | This restricts the benefit |
Read literally, the two contradict each other. The restriction sits next to a clause about income earned from work, which makes it natural to read as hours worked somewhere other than the reduced-hours job — but the source never says “another workplace.” So this article reproduces both sentences and does not settle the interpretation. If you are considering side work during the reduction, ask an employment center first.
Losing it after you have it — restrictions and penalties
| Item | Work24 source text |
|---|---|
| Threshold ① hours | “Where contracted working hours are 15 or more per week” |
| Threshold ② money | “Where income from self-employment, or money and goods received in return for providing labour, is the monthly cap (1.5 million won) or more” |
| Penalty | If the declaration is untrue, “up to one year of imprisonment or a fine of up to 3 million won.” The scope of restriction grows with the number of instances |
| Appeal | “Within 90 days of receiving the decision or notice,” an employment-insurance review or re-examination request |
| Time limit | “Once one year has passed since the reduction ended, the reduced-hours benefit cannot be received” |
Note the parenthesis in threshold ② — “the monthly cap (1.5 million won).” But as shown above, the cap from 2026 is 1.6 million won. This looks like the same lag that leaves this page on 2025 figures, but whether the restriction threshold rose with it is not confirmable from the source.
The 180-day rule is spelled out here too. “Employment-insurance enrolment keeps accumulating even when you change employers, but days on which no wage was paid, such as unpaid holidays, are excluded. Separately, if you have received unemployment benefit, the period before that is excluded from the enrolment period.” — the same counting rule set out in the parental leave guide.
Here are the two caps that rose in 2026, beside the number that did not.
Questions this raises
Which numbers should I trust?
The caps are 2.5m and 1.6m won from January 1, 2026. The 2.2m / 1.5m on the program guide are 2025 figures, and that page's last update is July 9, 2025. The calculator page splits its figures by year, which is what let us pin the date. Follow the page that carries a date — and the one that separates by year.
Is cutting exactly 10 hours the optimum?
On benefit rate alone, yes — the first 10 hours are at 100%. But post-reduction hours cannot exceed 35, so a 40-hour worker must cut at least 5, and how much care time you actually need comes first. This is not a decision to make on money alone.
Can an employer refuse?
This Work24 page does not list grounds for refusal, and the national law portal would not open, so it is unverified.
Can it be split into separate stretches?
Work24 gives only the “30 days or more” minimum and does not state a split count. Unverified.
Can it overlap with spousal maternity leave?
Not addressed in this material. For reference, spousal maternity leave per Work24 is 20 paid days, splittable three times, within 120 days of the birth.
The reduced-hours benefit has two layers — the first 10 hours a week at 100%, everything above at 80%. And the caps rose in 2026 while the same site's program guide still shows the 2025 numbers.
Sources
- Ministry of Employment and Labor, Work24 — Reduced Working Hours for Childcare and its benefit (last updated July 9, 2025). Source for “aged 12 or under, or grade 6 or below,” “permanent status or type of work does not matter,” “within 1 year (up to 3 years when unused parental leave is added),” “at least 15 and no more than 35 hours,” the 100% / 80% split, the 30-day minimum, and the filing window. Its caps read 2.2m / 1.5m won (2025 figures). Its cautions section is the source for the payment-restriction thresholds (15 hours a week; the monthly cap of 1.5 million won), “up to one year of imprisonment or a fine of up to 3 million won,” the escalating restriction by number of instances, the 90-day appeal window, “once one year has passed since the reduction ended,” and the enrolment-counting rule (accumulates across employers, unpaid days excluded, periods before unemployment benefit excluded).
- Ministry of Employment and Labor, Work24 — Reduced-hours benefit calculator guidance. Source for “2.2m won (from Jan 1, 2025), 2.5m won (from Jan 1, 2026)”, “1.5m won (Jul 2024–Dec 2025), 1.6m won (from Jan 1, 2026)”, the 500,000-won floor, and the July 1, 2024 start.
- Ministry of Employment and Labor, Work24 — Parental Leave Benefit program guide (last updated September 15, 2025). Source for the parental leave column of the comparison table.
- Ministry of Employment and Labor, Work24 — Spousal maternity leave and its benefit (last updated February 5, 2026). Source for 20 paid days, three splits, within 120 days.
Where to check further
- Whose “15 hours a week” the restriction means, and whether that amount is still ₩1.5M in 2026. It is the same number as the eligibility test but pointing the other way, the source never says “another workplace”, and the benefit cap rose to ₩1.6M while the restriction still reads ₩1.5M. Ask an employment centre (1350) before taking any side work — getting this wrong means repaying benefit already received.
- How unused parental leave converts, and how many separate blocks are allowed. The source gives only “up to three years” and “at least 30 days”, with no conversion rule. An employment centre or your HR team can work it out against your own remaining entitlement.
- The grounds on which an employer may refuse. This Work24 page says nothing about it. The National Law Information Centre carries the reduced-hours provisions of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, which list the exceptions.
Written as of July 2026. The benefit structure and requirements come from Work24 source text, and where two pages disagreed we printed both. For the base scheme see the parental leave guide; for both parents taking leave see the 6+6 scheme. Estimate your figure in the parental leave calculator, and check Work24 once more right before filing.
