“I can’t get pregnant as planned, isn’t it really too much?”
Complaints about the Korea Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour maternity leave regulations, which cannot use maternity leave beyond the specified period, are exploding.
It was in 2003 that maternity leave regulations were introduced on the KLPGA tour. At the time, the KLPGA tour collected the players’ stories and made a rule for ‘extension of seed rights/seed rankings for players applying for maternity leave’. There seems to be no big problem when you look at the second detailed clause, which explains the application criteria, ‘up to 2 years when applying for an extension due to pregnancy’.
However, there is a great deal of dissatisfaction with the first detailed clause, which says that maternity leave must be applied until the end of 30% or less of the official first tournament of each season. According to this provision, if you become pregnant after more than 30% of a season has passed, you cannot take maternity leave. Based on the 2023 season, it is possible to apply for maternity leave until the E1 Charity Open, which opens on the 26th, but after that, you have no choice but to tour while pregnant or give up the rest of the season.
Why did the KLPGA tour set the application period for maternity leave within 30% after the start of the season? A KLPGA tour official said, “The decision was made for the sake of fairness for all players on the regular tour.” ”he explained.
Regarding this, players and officials are in a position that it is difficult to understand. An official in the golf world said, “I can’t believe that there is such a rule on the women’s tour, not the men’s tour.” Recently, the government has been creating a childbirth support system, but only the KLPGA tour seems to be going backwards.”
A player who played on the KLPGA tour a few years ago said, “Setting a period for applying for maternity leave should be eliminated immediately. I think it is the best way to guarantee when you return for the number of tournaments you have not participated in since taking maternity leave.” There will be many,” he said.
There are some players who are caught up in the maternity leave regulations set by the KLPGA tour. At the time, players inquired about maternity leave regulations to the association, but the only answer was that they could not take maternity leave after the application period.
One player who virtually lost the right to participate in the KLPGA tour due to this rule said, “I thought about going ahead because I didn’t want to lose the right to participate, but I couldn’t participate in the tournament after becoming pregnant because the doctor advised me to rest.” It is difficult to understand that there is a separate period for applying for maternity leave. I hope that the regulations on maternity leave will be revised as soon as possible so that no player like me loses the dream of traveling on the KLPGA tour.”
In the LPGA Tour, where various childbirth-related policies, such as a child care system for mother golfers, were made about 30 years ago, players who have given birth or are expected to give birth can designate the current year or the following year as their birth year. As a result, players who took maternity leave during the year of childbirth can play on the LPGA Tour with the same category participation rights after returning.메이저놀이터
The KLPGA Tour announced its position that it would actively change the maternity leave rules according to the opinions of the players. An official from the KLPGA tour explained, “There is a plan to change the maternity leave rules as long as the players’ fairness is not a problem.”