After the nation's first gender equality law was introduced a year ago, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) yesterday claimed that the effectiveness of the law has been significant for the workers' rights in Taiwan, despite a survey showing that the implementation of the law has not been so successful.
The Gender Equality Labor Law (兩性工作平等法), which became effective on International Women's Day last year, has been questioned for its effectiveness. However, there have been 83 male workers who have applied to temporarily leave their jobs to take care of their children at home last year, while 2,581 females applied for the same benefits during the same period of time. The CLA says those numbers are significant.
Under the law, all workplaces are required to set up a nursery facility, a room where nursing mothers can breastfeed their babies and allow time for female employees to feed their infants during work hours. The law also gives women the right to one day of leave a month for discomfort associated with their menstrual cycles. Parents who have children under three years old and who have been employed by the companies for longer than a year are entitled to apply for temporary leave to take care of their children at home.
All of these requirements, however, have been the subject of complaints from private-sector employers who say that the regulations make recovery of Taiwan's sluggish economy more difficult.
According to the results of CLA's survey, which interviewed 2,463 companies last month, setting up a nursery seems to be the most difficult task for most of the companies. According to the survey, only 3.3 percent of the companies have set up a nursery
Mandatory maternity leave, on the other hand, has been effectively achieved, with 79.5 percent of the companies allowing their female employees to take days off before and after having their babies.Also See Story
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