With the Gender Equality Labor Law (
The law stipulates that female employees are entitled to one day leave per month for their menstrual discomfort, and up to two years childcare leave without pay. In addition, male staff can take two days leave to be present at the birth of their children.
The law also requires companies to establish nursery facilities and appeal channels for sexual harassment.
Employers said they were preparing measures to protect employees' interests.
"We'll definitely act in accordance with the law from tomorrow on. However, we need to survey employees' demand for nursery facilities, including a breast-feeding room," said Edith Wu (吳以智), director of human resources at ING Antai Life Insurance Co (安泰人壽), which has more than 2,400 staff and 19,000 salespeople.
She said the company has long offered two days maternity leave for male workers to be present at the birth of their children and one day leave per month for women's menstrual discomfort.
Other companies said they were also considering how to comply with the law.
Uni-president Corp (
"It'll be difficult for the company to accommodate such a long vacation," said Lee Shih-ming (
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it has lodged a protest with Pretoria after the name of the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa was changed to the “Taipei Commercial Office” on the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s (DIRCO) Web site. In October last year, the South African government asked Taiwan to relocate the Taipei Liaison Office, the nation’s de facto embassy, out of Pretoria. It later agreed to continue negotiating through official channels, but in January asked that the office be relocated by the end of this month. As of the middle of last month, DIRCO’s Web