Part leader demoted to general staff after returning from parental leave: First order for corrective action

An order for corrective action against gender discrimination in employment was issued for the first time on a company that enforced disadvantages, such as an unequal promotion opportunity, on an employee for taking parental leave. The order came a year and five months after such a policy on corrective action was introduced in the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act.

On October 16, the National Labor Relations Commission announced that it issued the first order for corrective measures against gender discrimination in employment on a science and technology services company that excluded from promotion candidates an employee who had returned from parental leave.

A, who worked as a part leader in the company with nearly a thousand employees, requested maternity leave and parental leave as her due date approached. The company dismissed her from the position of part leader after merging her department with another department claiming A’s absence and losses and reduction in the workload as the reason.

When A returned to work after a year of parental leave, she was demoted to general staff and assigned to another department. Because of this, she was also excluded from the candidates for promotion.

The company stipulates discrimination against employees who go on parental leave in its regulations. The company’s employment regulations state that they can adjust the increase rate of the basic wage for people taking parental leave and delay the increase in wages. The regulations on promotions also allow the company to exclude “employees who were subject to disciplinary action equivalent to or graver than a pay cut and employees on leave (for personal reasons, illness, parental leave)” from promotion candidates.

When A filed a petition against discrimination, initially, the regional Labor Relations Commission decided that the company did not engage in gender discrimination. The average time it takes for an employee who goes on parental leave to get promoted in this company was 6.3 years for a man and 6.2 years for a woman. So the commission ruled that there was no discrimination based on gender. There may have been discrimination against employees taking parental leave, but it was not against a particular gender, according to the local commission.

The National Labor Relations Commission, which oversaw the second hearing, overturned the first decision and decided that the action taken by the company was discriminatory. The commission ruled that although discrimination against parental leave may appear to be equal to both genders, in reality, it brings about results much more disadvantageous to women than to men. The commission mentioned the fact that 2.7 times more women than men applied for parental leave in the company in question.

The national commission ordered the company to take corrective action and give A an opportunity for a promotion, and if evaluation results conclude that she is eligible for the promotion to pay the difference in wages for the period she was discriminated against. The commission also ordered the company to revise its discriminatory employment and promotion regulations.

This was the first time that the commission ordered corrective action for discrimination in relation to parental leave since corrections for gender discrimination in employment were introduced in the Equal Employment Opportunity Act on May 19, 2022. The policy allows employees who suffer gender discrimination in recruitment and employment; wages and benefits; and training, promotion and assignments to request the Labor Relations Commission for corrective action. They can also apply for corrective measures if they believe the company’s actions against sexual harassment within the workplace or by clients were not sufficient.

The National Labor Relations Commission said, “The latest decision is significant for it clearly states that employers cannot apply discriminatory regulations on employees taking parental leave or treat people unequally in assignments and promotions because of their gender. And it reaffirmed the purpose of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, which allows employees to freely go on parental leave without concerns of discrimination.”