The third reading of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan provides for 14 weeks of maternity leave and 14 days of paternity leave in preparation for next year’s New Year.

The Legislative Yuan passed amendments to some provisions of the “Gender Equality Law in the Workplace” and the “Employment Insurance Law” in the third reading yesterday. Maternity leave for female employees has been increased from the existing 8 weeks to 14 weeks, paternity test and paternity leave have been increased from 7 days to 14 days and abortion leave has also been simultaneously increased. The applicable age for unpaid child care leave has been relaxed so that children can apply before they reach the age of 9. If both parents have received the Childcare Leave-Without Pay allowance for six months, they can each receive a further three months, and both parents can receive up to 18 months in total. After the third reading of the amended law, it is to be announced by the Presidential Office and the date of implementation will be determined by the Executive Yuan. Labor Minister Hong Shenhan said the policy would be implemented on New Year’s Day next year.

legislative yuanhan guoyu Yesterday, the government and the opposition called for consultations to resolve Article 15 of the “Gender Equality Work Act” which was previously divided. The Kuomintang and the People’s Party basically advocated 14 weeks of maternity leave, while the Democratic Progressive Party and the Ministry of Labor basically advocated 12 weeks of maternity leave and 10 working days of maternity check-up leave. After coordination, the three parties reached a consensus and proposed the same version of the amendment proposal, and finally the 14-week version of maternity leave was passed on the third reading.

As per current provisions, employees are granted 8 weeks’ maternity leave before and after delivery; 4 weeks for abortion of pregnancy more than 3 months and less than 3 months, one week for abortion of more than 2 months and less than 3 months and 5 days for abortion of less than 2 months; Paternity test and paternity leave is 7 days.

The third reading article states that maternity leave for employees before and after childbirth will be extended to 14 weeks; It will be maintained for 4 weeks for those more than 3 months and with miscarriage, for those more than 2 months but less than 3 months it will be extended to 2 weeks, and for those less than 2 months it will be extended to 10 days; Paternity test and paternity leave will be increased from 7 days to 14 days.

The law was amended and added that if an employee is willing to work during the 9th to 14th week of maternity leave, she may apply to cancel the leave in advance, and the employer will agree unless there is a valid reason. After the employer has paid maternity leave pay in accordance with the regulations, the employer may apply for a subsidy from the central competent authority for more than 8 weeks of maternity leave pay and additional abortion leave pay.

After the third reading, the portion of unpaid child care leave will be extended from the time the existing child reaches 3 years of age to the care of children under 8 years of age. The benefit period is until the child turns 9 years old, and the maximum is still limited to 2 years; And a new flexible parental leave of up to 60 days per person per child per year has been added, which can be applied for on a daily basis. After both parents have received it for 6 months, the Childcare Leave-Wage Allowance has been changed from the current maximum of 6 months for each individual to 3 months for each parent, with a maximum of 9 months for each individual and a maximum of 18 months combined for both parents.

The statutory payment for childcare leave without wage subsidy is still 60% of the average monthly insured wage. The Legislative Yuan also passed an attached resolution, requiring the Ministry of Labor to continue to subsidize 20% from the public budget in accordance with the “Key Points of Childcare Leave with Salary Subsidy”, maintaining a total of 80% of the average monthly insured salary.

The Taiwan Education Industry Association pointed out that the childcare leave-without-pay allowances of public education personnel and public school teachers will be subject to the Public Education Personnel Insurance Act. Maternity leave, abortion leave and paternity leave will be handled as per teacher leave rules. Relevant regulations have not been revised simultaneously, leading to “one country, two systems” for childbirth and child care rights. It calls on the Legislative Yuan, the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Education to amend the law as soon as possible to prepare adequate budgets for substitute teachers and hourly fees, taking into account the rights and interests of teachers and the quality of students’ education, so as to prevent other teachers from passing through the manpower gap.

Furthermore, the TTO said that the disparity between the 14 weeks of maternity leave and 14 days of paternity check-up and paternity leave following the amended law could leave mothers alone in the early stages of child-rearing, and there are variables that could mitigate the effects of the new system. The Alliance said that maternity leave has been significantly increased by 6 weeks, but the amount of time that spouses can devote to caregiving has been increased only slightly to 7 days. This may force women to take on most of the caregiving responsibilities during the period after childbirth when they need the most comfort and support. Compared to international reforms, which continue to strengthen fathers’ paid care rights and promote the division of labor between parents, Taiwan still lags behind.