The Ministry of Labor (MOL) yesterday announced an expanded subsidy scheme aimed at encouraging businesses to provide more childcare support to employees, including higher subsidies for employer-provided childcare allowances, with foreign employees also eligible.
“We have looked at the results of employer-provided childcare efforts so far and believe they have indeed been insufficient,” Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) told a news conference in Taipei.
Many business owners understand Taiwan’s low birthrate problem and are willing to help employees with childcare, “but they still face significant difficulties in terms of institutional support and resources,” Hung said.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
In view of those challenges, the ministry would introduce nine new or expanded subsidy measures building on existing policies in the hope that more businesses would take that “extra step to support employees,” Hung said.
At present, only employers with 100 or more employees are legally required to provide breastfeeding rooms and either childcare facilities or suitable childcare measures, while childcare allowances are not mandatory.
Among the changes set to take effect on May 1, are raised subsidies for employers that provide childcare allowances to employees of up to NT$10,000 (US$316) per employee per year, with subsidy rates ranging from 50 to 70 percent depending on the size of the company.
The childcare allowance applies to employees who have children aged 12 or under, the ministry said.
Under the current system, the ministry subsidizes 50 percent of the annual allowance paid by employers for each employee’s child if the amount is below NT$8,000, while allowances of NT$8,000 or more qualify for a maximum subsidy of NT$4,000.
Another expansion would be the removal of the requirement that employees’ children be enrolled in childcare institutions for employers to qualify for subsidies, meaning workers who rely on care provided by family members or babysitters would also be covered under the new scheme, the ministry said,
Along with other measures, including subsidies for employer-run childcare facilities, the expanded scheme would have a budget of NT$142.4 million this year, rising to a projected NT$213.41 million next year, with the subsidies to be financed by the Employment Insurance Fund, the ministry said.
Taiwan-based foreign companies and foreign nationals working in Taiwan would also be covered by the expanded scheme, Hung said, adding that migrant blue-collar workers are likewise “not excluded.”
There is “no differential treatment” in how the scheme is applied to employees of different nationalities, said Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛), director of the ministry’s Department of Employment Welfare and Retirement.
“If a company offers the same benefit to all employees, including migrant workers, we will handle its subsidy application on the same basis,” Huang said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS