The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) on Friday said it supported a legislative proposal to amend a law that would make it illegal for businesses to refuse to let their employees return to work after taking parental leave.
CLA Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said she would communicate with the legislature on the issue and that the council supports any initiatives that encourage career women to have children and help those women return to the workforce.
Wang’s remarks came after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) proposed an amendment to the Gender Equality in Employment Act (性別工作平等法) that would make it illegal for businesses to refuse to let employees who have taken parental leave return to their jobs.
According to article 17 of the act, businesses are currently able to withhold positions from employees who wish to return to their jobs after taking parental leave under special conditions, including business downsizing or the suspension of their original post.
Lu also proposed stiffer penalties for businesses that violate the law.
Wang added that since parental leave subsidies were adopted in May 2009, more than 500,000 applications for the subsidies have been approved, with more than NT$9 billion (US$305 million) being distributed, benefiting more than 100,000 people.
About 70 percent of the people who participated in the program returned to work after their parental leave ended, she said, citing CLA statistics.
Of the other 30 percent, Wang said some chose to delay their return to the workforce to spend more time with their children, while some had been refused the right to return by their employers.
The council would look into any irregularities related to the rights of employees, she said.
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