The Executive Yuan approved a draft of an amendment to the Employment Insurance Act (就業保險法), paving the way for workers to apply for unpaid parental leave subsidized for up to six months, Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) Chairwoman Wang Ju-hsuan (王如玄) said yesterday.
The draft will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for approval in its next session. If approved, the new regulation is expected to take effect in the first half of next year, Wang said.
“We are trying to seek the support of legislators,” she said at a press conference.
BENEFITS
Under the amendment, fathers and mothers on parental leave would each be entitled to a subsidy equal to 60 percent of their average insured monthly salary, for up to six months.
“This represents progress in reducing discrimination against working women, as both father and mother share the responsibility of raising children,” Wang said.
To be eligible for the subsidy, applicants must have been covered by employment insurance for at least one year and their children must be under three years of age.
FUNDING
Wang said funding for the new subsidy, estimated at NT$8.1 billion (US$253 million), would come from the employment insurance fund.
Describing the policy as an incentive for men to take responsibility for raising their children, Tseng Chao-yuan (曾昭媛), secretary-general of the Awakening Foundation, expressed support for the policy, but suggested that the subsidy payments should be extended to two years to correspond with the period of parental leave permitted by law.
One of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign promises was to offer employees two-year parental leave retaining 60 percent of their salaries.
IMPACT ON EMPLOYERS
Wang said the CLA would evaluate the impact of the policy on employers and parents before deciding whether the parental leave subsidy should be extended from six months to two years.
The draft amendment also extends to nine months the period over which jobless middle-aged and senior people can claim unemployment benefits, Wang said. Currently people in this category can claim 60 percent of their average insured monthly salary for up to six months.
Also, under the new proposal, unemployed people would be entitled to 80 percent instead of the current maximum of 60 percent of their salary, if they have to raise minor or disabled children and the spouse has no income, Wang said.
About 5.45 million workers covered by employment insurance in Taiwan would benefit from the above measures, the CLA said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS