A pregnant employee in Korea can ask to work 2 hours less a day, and the employer must allow it. Article 74(7) of the Labor Standards Act sets the timing as within 12 weeks of pregnancy or after 32 weeks, widened to the whole pregnancy for workers at risk of miscarriage or premature birth. Article 74(8) says the employer may not cut pay because of the shorter hours. Enter the due date to see the dates of the early and late windows and the request deadline.
1. Within 12 weeks or after 32 weeks, 2 hours off a day — the employer must allow it.
2. Diagnosed with a Table 3 condition (risk of miscarriage or premature birth): the whole pregnancy.
3. No pay cut; ask in writing with a medical certificate 3 days before the start.
Calculator
Updates as you type. Week 0 is estimated as due date minus 280 days (our method, the same as our due-date calculator); your doctor’s dating on the certificate decides. The Act says “within 12 weeks” and “after 32 weeks” without defining them to the day, so we show both week 12 + 0 and week 12 + 6.
The provisions
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Labor Standards Act Art. 74(7) | The employer must allow a 2-hour daily reduction requested by a female employee within 12 weeks or after 32 weeks of pregnancy (for an employee at risk of miscarriage, premature birth etc. as set by Ministry ordinance, the whole pregnancy). For an employee working under 8 hours a day, it may allow a reduction to 6 hours a day. | Tagged: inserted 24 March 2014, amended 22 October 2024 |
| Art. 74(8) | The employer must not reduce wages because of the reduction. | The 2 hours stay paid |
| Art. 74(9) | A pregnant employee who keeps her daily contracted hours may ask to change her start and finish times; the employer must allow it unless a Decree exception (serious disruption etc.) applies. | Shift the day instead of shortening it |
| Enforcement Rule Art. 12-3, Table 3 | An employee “at risk of miscarriage, premature birth etc.” is one diagnosed during pregnancy with a condition in Table 3. | New on 21 February 2025 |
| Enforcement Decree Art. 43-2 | Submit a document (electronic allowed) with the pregnancy period, planned start and end dates and working hours, with a doctor’s certificate, 3 days before the planned start. No certificate needed for a repeat request in the same pregnancy. | Second request: no certificate |
We read only the current text this time; the wording before the 22 October 2024 amendment is not given here because we did not open the history view. The current wording is “within 12 weeks or after 32 weeks”.
Counting the dates — our method
The Act does not say where “12 weeks” is counted from. Clinics usually put week 0 + 0 at the first day of the last period and the due date 280 days (40 weeks) later. So the calculator works backwards: due date − 280 days is week 0 + 0, 84 days later is week 12 + 0, 90 days later week 12 + 6, and 224 days later week 32 + 0. If your certificate gives a different pregnancy period, it decides.
| Example (ours) | Result (our sum) | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Due date 1 May 2027 | Week 0 + 0: 25 July 2026 · week 12 + 0: 17 October 2026 · week 12 + 6: 23 October 2026 | The early window has passed |
| Same person, as at 28 October 2026 | Week 13 + 4 — 129 days to the late window (week 32 + 0: 6 March 2027) | To start then, ask in writing by 3 March 2027 |
| Works 7 hours a day, early window | Under the proviso, may be allowed down to 6 hours a day (1 hour off) | At 8 hours: 2 hours off, 6 hours worked |
The six days from week 12 + 1 to week 12 + 6 are not clearly inside or outside “within 12 weeks” on the wording alone, so the calculator flags them. If your dates are tight, asking before week 12 + 0 is the safer course (our gloss).
At-risk pregnancies — the three groups in Table 3
Table 3 of the Enforcement Rule lists three groups: 1. conditions related to pregnancy and birth (26 items, including gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, threatened miscarriage, gestational diabetes, multiple pregnancy, care for cervical incompetence, polyhydramnios, placenta praevia and preterm labour without delivery), 2. circulatory conditions and 3. genitourinary conditions (such as kidney failure and urinary stones). A note says that for groups 2 and 3 the certificate must also carry a pregnancy-related diagnosis and code (O10–O16, O20–O48). With such a diagnosis, the 12- and 32-week windows do not matter.
The due date itself is in our due date calculator; reduced hours after birth are in reduced hours for childcare.
If the employer refuses
Breaching Art. 74(7) or (9) carries an administrative fine of up to 5 million won (Art. 116(2)(ii)). Breaches of maternity, miscarriage and stillbirth leave (Art. 74(1)–(5)) fall under Art. 110 (up to 2 years’ imprisonment or a 20 million won fine); a refused reduction sits on the fine side. Art. 60(6)(v) in the current text treats the hours cut under this reduction as attended when annual leave is counted.
Checklist
- ☐ Find week 12 + 0 and week 32 + 0 from the due date
- ☐ Written request (electronic is fine) with a certificate 3 days before the start
- ☐ Table 3 diagnosis: the whole pregnancy — check the codes on the certificate
- ☐ The 2 hours stay paid (Art. 74(8))
- ☐ If shorter hours are hard, change start and finish times (Art. 74(9))
Questions that remain
Is there nothing between weeks 13 and 31?
The Art. 74(7) reduction does not apply then (without a Table 3 condition). But the Art. 74(9) change of start and finish times can be asked for at any point in pregnancy, and Art. 74(5) bans overtime during pregnancy and requires a move to lighter work on request.
Which end of the day is cut?
The Act fixes only “2 hours a day”. The request form asks for the working start and finish times (Decree Art. 43-2), so you write the times you want (our gloss).
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Labor Standards Act Arts. 74, 60, 110, 116 — source (current text, effective 8 October 2026, Act No. 21533; checked 28 October 2026). The pregnancy reduction (within 12 / after 32 weeks, 2 hours, the under-8-hours proviso), no pay cut, changed hours, annual-leave attendance, penalties and fines.
- Korean law database — Enforcement Decree Arts. 43-2, 43-3 — source (effective 23 October 2025, Decree No. 35436; checked 28 October 2026). How to ask (3 days, document, certificate); the changed-hours exception.
- Korean law database — Enforcement Rule Art. 12-3, Table 3 — source (effective 23 February 2025, Ministry of Employment and Labor Ordinance No. 436; checked 28 October 2026). The three groups of at-risk conditions and the certificate note.
- Not read. The pre-amendment text of Art. 74(7); Ministry guidance and rulings.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Your doctor — the pregnancy period on the certificate; whether a Table 3 condition applies.
- Your HR team or the regional labour office — how the week-12 boundary is handled; forms.
Written on 28 October 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
