Taiwan Today
Date: May 5, 2016
Taiwan’s workers can look forward to better conditions for child care and nursing in their places of
Employer-provided nursing rooms are testament to the headway made by Taiwan in promoting workplace gender equality since implementation of 2002’s Act of Gender Equality in Employment. (CNA)
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. [FULL STORY]
