Civic groups yesterday launched a signature campaign to urge the government to provide employees with up to 180 days of “long-term care leave,” so that they have more time to look after older relatives without having to quit their jobs.
The campaign, launched at the Taipei NGO House by the Awakening Foundation, the Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers and the Confederation of Taipei Trade Unions, received the backing of more than 80 non-governmental organizations and labor groups.
The groups are demanding long-term care leave consisting of 30 days of paid leave and 150 days of unpaid flexible leave, Awakening Foundation director Chuang Chiao-ju (莊喬汝) said at the launch.
The purpose of the leave is to give employees more time to take care of older family members when necessary, Chuang said, adding that many people have been forced to quit their jobs to take care of older relatives, which reduces the nation’s workforce.
Workers should not be denied such leave when they present a doctor’s certificate as proof that a direct family member or spouse requires long-term care, the petition says.
Employees should receive 60 percent of their monthly salary for the first 30 days of leave, which is usually the busiest time for caretakers, it says, adding that they should then be able to claim 150 days of flexible unpaid leave.
There are about 790,000 people with dementia and disabled persons in Taiwan, the association said, adding that their caretakers, mostly middle-aged relatives, spend an average of more than 20 hours per week looking after them for an average of eight years.
Situations in which a person has to stop working to take care of a relative are “triple-lose,” as they lose their salary, the employer loses experienced staff and the nation suffers economically, association secretary-general Jenny Chen (陳景寧) said.
Earlier this month, officials said that the Ministry of Labor would hold talks on long-term care with labor groups, businesses and specialists before the end of next month.
Workers are entitled to personal leave, family care leave and annual special leave in accordance with current laws, the ministry said, adding that further study on long-term care leave is needed, particularly whether the government has the budget to support the policy.
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