The government is considering allowing public servants three days per year of paid mental health leave, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Director-General Su Chun-jung (蘇俊榮) said yesterday.
The agency on Monday forwarded the proposal to the Examination Yuan, which is to review it jointly with the Executive Yuan.
The measure is designed to improve the mental fortitude of public-sector workers, with mental health the focus of the Presidential Office’s Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, Su told a meeting of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statues Committee at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The three days would be part of the seven days of guaranteed personal leave, he said.
It would be paid leave, would not affect performance evaluations and would not require proof, Su said, adding that work units could not refuse requests for mental health leave, nor issue punitive measures of any sort over them.
Regarding holidays, Su said that he was not opposed to the issue of making Labor Day a national holiday, adding that his agency would comply with the Ministry of the Interior’s decision pending its review of May 1 becoming a state holiday.
Su said he had reservations over a proposal to reinstate seven national holidays removed by the government in 2016, as the move would affect the education of children in rural areas.
Separately, the Examination Yuan said that while wage hikes would mean that college graduates would start at NT$55,000 per month in public-sector jobs if they pass the civil service exams, the number of people sitting the exams had dropped to 4,994 in 2023 from 34,000 in 2012, an 86 percent decline.
The branch would initiate a four-year plan to attract talent to work for the government, Examination Yuan Secretary-General Jason Liu (劉建忻) said.
Measures include fostering interbranch collaboration, ameliorating regulations for national exams and personnel management, moving to a digital-based system, improving administrative staff training for better performance at the local and central government levels, and cultivating friendlier working environments, Liu said.
Minister of Examination Lio Mon-chi (劉孟奇) said that the ministry would amend regulations to create a more flexible exam system.
The government would update its archives of exam questions more frequently, propose strategies to attract more people to work in the public sector, and use artificial intelligence, big data and the cloud to create more innovative services, Lio said.
Additional reporting by CNA
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
RSS