The Executive Yuan is planning to send a proposal to increase parental leave from six months to seven months for both mothers and fathers to the Legislative Yuan before the end of the year, an official said yesterday.
That follows a statement by Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) at a Legislative Yuan meeting on Tuesday that the Cabinet is mulling changes to the insurance laws governing parental leave.
That would involve amending the Employment Insurance Act (就業保險法) for private employees, the Civil Servants and Educators’ Insurance Act (公教人員保險法) for teachers and government workers, and the Act of Insurance for Military Personnel (軍人保險條例).
Photo: CNA
The amendments to Article 19-2 of the Employment Insurance Act would have to take into consideration the standards for how leave allowances are to be paid out, and for how long, an official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said yesterday.
The amendments must also consider whether the Ministry of Labor’s trial flexible parental leave program is viable, they said.
The program, initiated on May 9 last year, allows parents to take parental leave in terms of days, as opposed to current regulations, in terms of months, with the maximum leave capped at six months.
The Enforcement Rules of the Employment Insurance Act states that parents taking parental leave for less than one month would be considered to have taken one whole month of leave, the source said.
At issue is whether the additional days parents take should be considered flexible parental leave or a different type of leave, the official said.
Some groups have suggested that new types of leave should be introduced, such as flexible paid parental leave or family care leave, the source said, adding that this should be clarified before determining leave allowances.
How the allowance should be calculated would also involve the Employment Insurance Fund, which, as of the end of last year, stood at NT$175.6 billion (US$5.35 billion), the official said.
The number of workers eligible for parental leave allowance increased from 82,409 in 2021 to 93,587 last year, primarily due to a government subsidy, which comprises 20 percent of the wage of the parent who asked to take unpaid parental leave, they said.
The subsidy and the allowance meant that parents would receive about 80 percent of their original wage, resulting in a 14 percent increase in the number of parents applying for the allowance, the source said.
Relaxation of regulations in 2022 allowing both parents to apply for the allowance saw more than 30,000 applicants last year, up 54 percent from before 2022, they said.
Statistics show that males applying for the allowance rose by 27 percent compared with pre-2022 levels, showing an increased willingness by men to shoulder the responsibility of raising children, the source said.
Using an example of both parents’ wages calculated based on an average monthly insurance rate of NT$38,200, each parent would receive NT$30,560 per month for a combined total of NT$366,720 over six months each.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
RSS