Legislators across party lines yesterday proposed an amendment that would grant COVID-19 pandemic-related leave subsidies to parents, potentially totaling up to NT$10 billion (US$357 million).
The proposal would add a clause to the Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for Severe Pneumonia with Novel Pathogens (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例), allowing workers who have to take unpaid leave to take care of their children who are younger than 12 or attending elementary school to apply for the subsidies.
The subsidy amount would be 60 percent of the recipients’ total insurance payouts for the previous year, estimated at NT$683 per day.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Many parents, especially low-income families, have been forced to take unpaid leave to care for their children during a nationwide COVID-19 outbreak in the past few days, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said.
Payment for leave in such situations is optional, as stipulated in Ministry of Labor regulations, said Lai, a labor rights advocate.
Some companies have refused to allow workers to take special paid leave for workers to take care of their children, and instead asked them to take a vacation leave, she said.
The companies’ requests contravene workers’ rights, Lai said, but added that many small and medium-sized firms could not afford to grant their workers special leave.
“It highlights the necessity of writing into law the rights of workers to take pandemic-related special leave bolstered by subsidy payments,” Lai said.
Since a level 3 COVID-19 alert was declared in Taipei and New Taipei City on Saturday last week, which was extended nationwide on Wednesday, more than 2.53 million children up to 12 years old are expected to stay home for two weeks, Lai said.
Considering that for each child one parent would have to stay home, and that a certain share of them would have to take special leave and apply for the subsidy, it is estimated that it would cost the government up to NT$10 billion, she said, adding that this amount was small, compared with the Executive Yuan’s special budget of NT$210 billion.
Lai said she hoped the amendment would be passed as soon as possible to help financially disadvantaged Taiwanese.
The bill, signed by 21 legislators across party lines, was sponsored by Lai, TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔).
‘SMEAR CAMPAIGN’: The ‘Global Times’ accused the DPP of offering politicians in Somaliland bribes and promoting Taiwanese independence by funding US think tanks The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denounced China’s Global Times for disseminating disinformation about Taiwan, after the Chinese state-run newspaper claimed that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been bribing Somaliland politicians. Taiwan in August last year inaugurated the Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland, which is the nation’s only representative office whose title uses just the name “Taiwan.” The East African country also established a representative office in Taipei, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations. The Chinese-language Global Times on Monday accused the DPP of offering Somaliland politicians and their families considerable bribes, citing anonymous sources. The International Cooperation
Phase 2 clinical trial results of the Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday were published on the Web site of The Lancet: Respiratory Medicine, in an early preview before publication. The study paves the way for other nations to issue emergency use authorizations or produce the Medigen vaccine, given The Lancet’s credibility as a highly respected medical journal with a rigorous peer-review process, Medigen’s international affairs director Lien Chia-en (連加恩) said. Lien said that the study is important as it proposes methods for converting international units for efficacy comparisons. The methods have been used for correlating the efficacy of hepatitis B
Ambassador Theaters on Tuesday announced that its Breeze Center cinemas in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) would close late this month after screening thousands of major Hollywood movies and local favorites over two decades. Ambassador Theaters, one of the largest cinema chain operators in Taiwan, said that Oct. 25 would be the last day the Breeze Center cinemas screen movies, adding that its lease expires on that day. “We sincerely appreciate the support and recognition from audiences in Taipei over the past 20 years,” the company said. “We look forward to seeing you again in the future.” The cinemas started operating in 2001, upon
BUMPING AROUND: A total of 143 people sustained fall injuries at MRT stations or inside trains over eight months, with a majority caused by ‘distracted walking’ Taipei Rapid Transit Corp yesterday urged people to avoid looking at their phones when walking, saying 73 cases of “distracted walking injuries” had occurred in the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system from January to August. As the local COVID-19 situation has been brought under control, passenger traffic has been increasing, reaching about 1.5 million rides per day last month, the company said. However, many passengers have been looking at their phones as they walk through MRT stations, which can lead to collisions with other passengers or injury from falling down stairs. A total of 143 people sustained fall injuries at MRT stations
RSS