Ruling party, ministry vow swift action on gender employment disclosure regime

Democratic Party lawmakers on the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family held a party-government consultation Wednesday, agreeing to push for the swift introduction of a "gender employment disclosure regime."

Rep. Lee Su-jin, the Democratic Party's policy coordination chair on the Gender Equality and Family Committee, said at the consultation held at the National Assembly that the party would "promptly begin legislative discussions to advance the gender employment disclosure regime."

Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung said the ministry would "push forward without delay on tasks directly tied to people's lives" — including introducing the gender employment disclosure regime, narrowing the gender gap in working hours, strengthening protections against women's violence such as dating violence, mounting a strong and swift response to digital sex crimes and supporting victims, and identifying at-risk youth early while providing careful intervention and help with daily recovery.

Won added that the ministry also planned to "develop gender equality policy in a balanced but forceful way in step with social change."

Speaking to reporters after the consultation, Lee said she had received a response from the ministry indicating that "the law should be amended by September this year, followed by a three-month process to draft enforcement ordinances, so that the regime can take effect under law by March next year."

The ministry plans to establish a legal basis requiring companies with 500 or more full-time employees to disclose their gender employment figures, median wage gaps by gender, and work-life balance program usage by gender, starting next year, and to build a public disclosure system for that purpose.