Union Coverage and Accessibility on Paid Parental Leave: the US and South Korea comparison

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Abstract

In this paper, I will conduct analyses of the union coverage effect on paid parental leave with a national comparison approach between the US and South Korea. The US is among a few countries that do not regulate paid maternity/parental leave at the national level. This means that whether to offer paid maternity/parental leave largely depends on the management level of decisions, private sector. In this case, a union could be an institution that makes pressure on employers, facilitates the offering of paid maternity/parental leave to their employees. On the other hand, in South Korea, paid maternity/parental leave is guaranteed by national law up to 1 year. Although the replacement rate of payment during the leaves has a cap (up to 1,500,000 Korean won a month, approximately 13,000 US dollars), its state-level regulations on paid maternity/parental leave do not require unions or other institutions to offer the benefits to employees. In this case, the union might not be a major factor for employee’s accessibility on paid leave. However, the union effect on paid maternity/parental leave might be spurious due to the positive relationship between large-scale corporations and unions. Rather than accessibility, actual usage without any subtle discrimination matters more in this context. In two different contexts, whether states regulate the benefits to employees or not, union effect on the paid maternity/parental leave would show differences.

Author

• Minyoung An, University of Arizona