Civic groups in Taiwan ask for paid family care leave for workers

Some 22 civic groups in Taiwan are asking for paid family leave when workers take off days to care for their family members, in a move that will give workers equal treatment to what civil servants are currently entitled to. 

Presently, civil servants are entitled to paid leave when they take off days to care for their families, while workers employed by non-government agencies are not, said secretary general of the Awakening Foundation Chyn Yu-rung, according to Focus Taiwan. 

Civic groups have demanded equal treatment for private sector workers for over a decade but the government has always been reluctant to address the issue, Chyn added. 

The civic groups also asked that the seven days of annual family care leave be increased to 14 days, and sought for more flexibility for workers when they apply for such leave. 

READ: 13.5% of workers in Taiwan not given overtime pay

In response to the requests, Director of the Ministry of Labour’s Department of Labour Standards and Equal Employment Huang Wei-chen said that the paid family care leave, if applied to the private sector, would impose a heavy burden on employers.