Family care rights for private sector employees should be the same as those in the public sector and the government should put an end to double standards in labor rights, the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions (TCTU) said yesterday.
The TCTU’s statement was made in response to an amendment to the Gender Equality in Employment Act (性別工作平等法) proposed by the Council of Labor Affairs on Tuesday.
The amendment would allow paid leave for working parents with children under the age of 12 when schools are closed, but -offices -remain open in the wake of typhoons or other natural calamities. It is expected to be enacted next year.
The TCTU is unsatisfied with the amendment.
In the wake of a typhoon, civil servants are still paid under the “Operation Regulations on the Suspension of Offices and Classes because of Natural Disasters,” TCTU secretariat Hsieh Chuang-chih (謝創智) said.
Under Article 10 of the Gender Equality in Employment Act, public servants can be excused from work with approval of the organization or school if their -children are “below senior-high school level, are disabled or have special needs that require attention and attendance,” and these absences are not counted as unpaid leave, Hsieh said.
Why is there a growing discrepancy between the rights of workers in the public sector and those in the private sector if all workers are equal and the purpose of the amendment is to allow employees to look after their children without worrying, Hsieh asked.
As double-income families are becoming the norm in Taiwan, “what employees want are comprehensive family care rights,” Hsieh said.
Even if natural disasters temporarily disrupt production and prevent employees from being able to work, “this is not the employees’ responsibility and salaries should not be deducted,” he said.
The act should be amended to include five days paid leave for private sector workers, a right that civil servants already enjoy, he said.
Hsieh said he believes that companies would benefit from improved productivity and avoiding potential hazards at work.
However, 1111 Job Bank spokeswoman Charlene Chang (張旭嵐) said the new amendment might make it even more difficult for middle-aged employees, especially women with children, to find or switch jobs, especially should companies be burdened with the annual NT$2 billion (US$69 million) cost of meeting the new regulations.
It remains unclear whether the government or employers would be shouldering the costs as it is still being discussed, she said.
According to the Council of Labor Affairs’ rough estimates, Taiwanese companies could lose NT$390 million a day if the more than 600,000 working parents nationwide all took the day off.
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