The Ministry of Labor has launched a trial program offering more flexible parental leave for working parents. Currently, parental leave must be taken in at least a one-month period, forcing many workers to use unpaid leave to care for their kids over shorter periods. The new plan allows parents to take parental leave in periods of as little as five and seven days. More than 60 companies have joined the pilot program, which will last until the end of the year.

This baby grabs tightly at her mom, staring intently at the camera. Ms. Lin’s daughter is just 1 year and 4 months old. As a working mother, Lin has used up her one-year parental leave and is heading back to work.

Ms. Lin
Working mother
I kept her good company all this time. Now, she’s beginning to go to daycare. There, it’s common to catch a cold, or to have an enterovirus outbreak at school and so on. So sometimes, you have to take five days off work in a row, or even more than seven days. So having flexibility with parental leave periods is better.

Currently, employees working for their company for at least six months are entitled to request parental leave before their child turns 3. Only the first six months of the period are paid, and they are paid at 80% of the parent’s original salary. The minimum leave period is 1 month, the maximum is 2 years, and the leave can be requested twice. Parents have complained that the system isn’t flexible enough to cover the many issues that can come up during childrearing. The Ministry of Labor on Thursday launched a trial program that will last until the end of the year, allowing parents to request leave for periods as short as five or seven days. Employers may also opt to allow parents to take single days off.

Member of public
Right after the child is born, many situations could arise. The policy aims to make workplaces more accommodating for parents, so that they don’t have to use up other kinds of leave. This lifts some of the burden off them.

Member of public
Some companies don’t let employees work from home, so more flexibility would be very convenient. Taking five days or seven days off shouldn’t make too much of a difference for the company.

The flexibility makes life easier for workers. But for companies, it means they could need workers on short notice. They say more policies should be enacted on that front.

Tseng Chung-wei
Job bank
Colleagues and substitutes might find it troublesome. Companies need some security, as they may not feel safe assigning parents to major projects. That’s because if they suddenly take leave, finding a substitute or transferring the project to others could be quite troublesome.

Employer
Parental leave is just for a brief period. It’s not something employees use on the regular. If life is better for workers, I agree with the policy.

Sixty-four companies are participating in the trial period. The Ministry of Labor hopes the higher level of flexibility will help parents take care of the families and potentially prop up Taiwan’s declining birth rate.

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