Taiwan advances greater workplace gender equality

2016/05/06

Taiwan’s workers can look forward to better conditions for child care and nursing in their places of employment, with amendments to the Act of Gender Equality in Employment clearing third reading May 3 in the Legislative Yuan—the nation’s highest lawmaking body.

Under the new changes, a firm with 100 or more workers on its payroll, as compared to 250 previously, is required to provide nursing rooms, as well as child care facilities or off-site alternatives for their employees. In addition, mothers nursing children aged 2 and under are allowed a 60-minute nursing break per day, plus an additional 30 minutes for overtime exceeding one hour.

These employer-provided measures will benefit 3.68 million local workers, 1.24 million more than those covered by the old framework, according to the Ministry of Labor.

Lawmakers across the political spectrum have voiced support for the amended act, viewing it as furthering Taiwan’s headway in promoting workplace gender equality. Dr. Lin Ching-yi, a practicing gynecologist and Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker, lauded the new measure for creating a family-friendly work environment and encouraging childbearing.

This view is echoed by Kuomintang Legislator Wang Yu-min, who said the act will benefit 56.47 percent of all salaried employees in Taiwan while relieving the stress on young working parents.

MOL statistics reveal that at present, 85 percent of local firms with a staff of over 250 have nursing facilities in place as prescribed by the 2002-enacted law. Of these companies, 81.5 percent offer in-house child care centers as well.

Taiwan is one of the most progressive countries in terms of advancing gender equality in employment. In recent years, a raft of measures were written into law to strengthen the efforts, including increasing paid paternity leave to five days and adding five-day prenatal examination leave at year-end 2014. Over 90 percent of employers are willing to give paid parental and maternity leave, according to a survey by the MOL, with a broader range of initiatives under consideration by the public and private sectors.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=244403&ctNode=2194&mp=9)