The Executive Yuan (EY) yesterday announced the official workday calendar for next year, which includes one makeup day and four holidays with more than three days off.
It also announced new standards for makeup days in the event of consecutive holidays.
The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration cited the importance of the Lunar New Year and Tomb Sweeping holidays to the public as its reason to mandate flexible off-days.
Photo courtesy of the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration
The 115 total off-days dovetail with dates that international financial markets are closed, minimizing the effects of state holidays on stock and currency exchange trading, it said.
Over the next five years, only the calendar for 2026 has not been adjusted, while the other four years would only have one makeup day to account for the holiday on the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve.
The changes came after six makeup days were mandated by the government this year, which drew criticism from the public.
Regarding when the makeup workday should be, the phrasing has been amended to “the Saturday on the week, or the Saturday the week after,” from “the Saturday the week before.”
Next year’s makeup day has been set for Feb. 17, compensating for the Thursday before Lunar New Year’s Eve.
The official workday calendar only applied to civil servants, public officials and employees at state-owned companies, adding that the off-days of military personnel falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense, the agency said.
Schools should observe the academic calendar, which is decided by the Ministry of Education, while the private sector should base off-days on the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), it said.
Regarding whether the reduced off-days would affect domestic markets, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that the overall number of off-days remains unchanged, and the domestic market would not be affected.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ post-pandemic regulations target the service industry and shopping districts to improve service quality, Wang said.
Total retail revenue last month increased to NT$369.7 billion (US$12.0 billion), or annual growth of 7.5 percent, and restaurants had revenue of NT$81.5 billion — an annual increase of 31.4 percent, Wang said, adding that the public should have more faith in the domestic market.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
RSS