Shinhan Financial pledges $7.5 mn for work-family balance at SMEs

[Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group]

Shinhan Financial Group has become the first South Korean entity to vow contribution to a government fund created to help small businesses ensure work-life balance.

Shinhan Financial Group inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy, a government body responsible for demographic issues such as birth rates, to contribute 10 billion won ($7.49 million) and collaborate on family-friendly initiatives.

The funds will be used to support small companies when hiring replacements for parental leave takers to wait for them to return to work.

A survey on work-family balance conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor last year revealed that 49.6 percent of employees felt guilty for taking parental leave because of concerns over work gaps.

“Our employees can take parental leave, but we rarely hire replacements, and the team shares the workload, all of which makes the employee on parental leave feel guilty about taking leave itself,” said an official from a small company who asked to be unnamed.