The government has revised relevant regulations to address staffing shortages in hospitals caused by employees taking maternity and parental leave.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on June 30 that the partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Health and Medical Personnel Support Act was promulgated following deliberation by the State Council.
This amendment was designed to create an environment where healthcare workers can comfortably take leave for pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare, and to encourage hospitals to deploy additional personnel.
Under the revised decree, tertiary general hospitals—large-scale medical institutions—must calculate the average number of personnel who have taken leave or time off by job category, such as doctors, nurses, and medical technicians, over the past three years as additional staff.
Hospitals are expected to make efforts to deploy this calculated number of additional staff, in addition to the average number of employees on duty over the past three years.
The types of leave and time off included in the calculation for additional personnel are maternity leave, paternity leave, leave for miscarriage or stillbirth, fertility treatment leave, and parental leave.
For healthcare institutions other than tertiary general hospitals, they are expected to make efforts to deploy additional personnel based on standards determined by the Minister of Health and Welfare, taking into account the type, size, and operational status of each institution.
(Photo: Yonhap News)