The Ministry of the Interior yesterday said that it would carefully evaluate proposals on how to legislate holiday scheduling.
The government’s national holiday calendar has faced criticism from lawmakers, who have proposed regulations for the scheduling of public holidays and festivals.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Wu Tang-an (吳堂安) told a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee that the ministry would carefully evaluate legislators’ proposals to form a consensus.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
Holiday regulations, which have a huge impact on people’s daily lives, government agencies and businesses, are issued by the government. Several lawmakers proposed that they be set according to a formal law.
The ministry invited academics, civil society groups and others to share their views and attempt to reach a consensus.
There are seven proposals in the Legislative Yuan, all of which passed their first reading and are awaiting further review.
The proposals suggest increasing Taiwan’s 11 public holidays to 12 to 18 days.
With weekends included, that would mean that almost one-third of the calendar would be days off, which requires careful consideration, Wu said.
Holidays affect people’s access to government services; businesses, including industrial operations and output; transportation services; stock markets; and public leisure activities, he said.
There have been attempts to codify the regulations three times in the past 25 years, but none have been successful, he added.
The Financial Supervisory Commission said that if Taiwan’s banking sector has more days off compared with international peers, it might struggle to attract funds, reflect economic trends and lower overall trading volumes.
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