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.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all