Since legislation allowing parents to receive subsidies for staying at home to look after young children took effect last month, the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) has received thousands of applications for the program, CLA statistics showed yesterday.
In March, the legislature passed an amendment to the Employment Insurance Act (就業保險法) that would allow workers on parental leave to apply for subsidies to stay at home with their children aged three or under.
Applicants must have participated in the national labor insurance program for at least a year. They will be able to receive the subsidies, which are limited to one subsidy per couple, for a maximum of six months.
The amendment sets the subsidy at 60 percent of an employee’s average insured salary six months prior to the application.
At a press conference yesterday, CLA Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said mothers who encounter problems returning to work after their parental leave ended, “come and find me.”
Council statistics showed that since the legislation took effect at the beginning of last month, the CLA had received 6,550 applications, 454 (11 percent) of which were filed by men who said they would stay at home to take care of their young children.
“This shows that there are quite a few men willing to be full-time dads,” Wang said.
Of these applications, the CLA has already approved 3,963 cases and paid out more than NT$66 million (US$2 million) in subsidies. The average subsidy paid out to each approved individual was NT$16,673.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese