▶KT&G was awarded the labor minister’s award for workplace gender equality. Lee Ki-kwon, Labor Minister (left) presents Tae-seob Kim, KT&G head of strategy and planning department at the minister’s award for workplace gender equality on May 31.  

KT&G(CEO Bok-in Baek) was awarded the labor minister’s award for workplace gender equality on May 31.

Workplace gender equality award, in its 17th anniversary, is given to excellent workplace gender equality companies by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The Minister prize was awarded to KT&G this year.

Last year, the number of male employees using child care leave at KT&G saw a fourfold increase on-year. It also implemented an automatic child care leave system that allowed new mothers to take time off without complicated paperwork.

The company also extended its maternity leave to one year and child care leave to two years, allowing new mothers to take up to three years off per child. The company introduced ‘refresh leave’ allowing employees to take three weeks off every five years.

KT&G also runs a day care facility within the company to help with work-life balance, the company said.

KT&G, which was certified as a family-friendly company by the Gender Equality Ministry and a leisure-friendly company by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that it will “continue to create diverse programs in line with government policies to promote gender equality in the workplace.”