The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said that next year it would institute paid leave for parents to take care of their children in the case of a typhoon that shuts down schools, but leaves offices open.
The council will try to send a draft amendment to the Legislative Yuan before the end of the current session to put the legal provisions in place, council official Chen Hui-ling (陳慧玲) said.
Once the amendment is passed, the regulation would take effect next year, she said.
At a meeting convened by the council on Wednesday, representatives of business groups and employees reached an initial agreement to allow parents with children aged 12 and under to take paid leave when schools close, but offices remain open because of typhoons or other natural phenomena, Chen said.
However, employees of businesses that provide day care and workers whose spouses are unemployed will not be eligible for paid family care leave, she said.
The new regulation will cost NT$2 billion (US$69 million) per year, but it was not decided at the meeting who would bear the cost, Chen said.
Representatives of employees said employers should bear the cost, while business representatives said it should be covered by employment insurance or some other type of insurance, Chen said, adding that further discussions would be required to resolve the issue.
Representatives also avoided discussing the maximum length of family care leave in the case of typhoons that close schools, but not offices because the situation does not come up very often, she said.
At present, the Gender Employment Equality Act (性別工作平等法) allows employees to take up to seven days a year of unpaid family care leave in circumstances such as typhoons.
The issue of paid family care leave surfaced late last month when city and county governments announced the closure of schools, but not offices, as a result of Typhoon Nanmadol.
The decision left some working parents in a quandary because their children were on vacation and would have had no adult supervision if they went to work.
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