The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said it supported a legislative proposal to amend a law that would make it illegal for businesses to refuse to let their employees return to work after taking parental leave.
The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) said it supported a legislative proposal to amend a law that would make it illegal for businesses to refuse to let their employees return to work after taking parental leave.
CLA’s support came after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed an amendment to the Gender Equality in Employment Act which allows the employer to refuse the return of employees to work after taking parental leave under special conditions, including business downsizing, suspension those positions. The amendment of the law would make it illegal for businesses to refuse to let employees who have taken parental leave return to their jobs and proposed stiffer penalties for businesses that violate the law.
CLA Minister said that since parental leave subsidies were adopted in May 2009, more than 500,000 applications for the subsidies have been approved, with more than NT$9 billion (US$305 million) being distributed, benefiting more than 100,000 people.
About 70 percent of the people who participated in the program returned to work after their parental leave ended, she said, Of the other 30 percent, some chose to delay their return to the workforce to spend more time with their children, while some had been refused the right to return by their employers.
According to article 17 of the act, businesses are currently able to withhold positions from employees who wish to return to their jobs after taking parental leave under special conditions, including business downsizing or the suspension of their original post.
