2015.03.09
ROC advances gender equality in workplace
March 6, 2015
Taiwan is making significant headway on the workplace gender equality front, with over 90 percent of employers willing to give paid parental and maternity leave, according to the Ministry of Labor March 5.
“Of the 3,222 employers surveyed in our 2014 research, those agreeing to prenatal, postnatal and miscarriage leave stood at 90.9 percent, 95.1 percent and 93.1 percent, respectively,” an MOL official said.
“Those providing menstrual and paternity leave also rose to 85.7 percent and 85.6 percent, up from 47 percent and 59.8 percent in 2013. Increases of 30 to 40 percentage points were seen in almost all indexes from the year before.”
The survey, which was conducted last October, underscores the effectiveness of the Act of Gender Equality in Employment implemented in 2002.
According to the MOL, for organizations and businesses employing 250 or more people, 81.4 percent established nurseries or groups responsible for child care services, up 45.1 percentage points on 2002 and 2.3 percentage points on the previous year. For those with 30-plus employees, 83.8 percent had put in place measures for the complaint, prevention and punishment of sexual harassment, up 48.3 percentage points from 12 years ago.
“In addition, more than 90 percent of employers said they practiced no gender-based discrimination at work, whether in hiring, promotion or remuneration,” the official said.
The only exception was in task allocation, with 23.5 percent of employers admitting to gender-based bias in decision-making. But improvement was reported in this aspect as well, with the figure down from 27.9 percent in 2013.
Promoting gender equality in the workplace remains a priority for the MOL going forward, the official said, adding that the introduction of more rounded initiatives are in the works. These include measures written into law last December like increasing paid paternity leave to five days and adding five-day prenatal examination leave. (YHC-JSM)
Source: Taiwan Today
http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=228014&ctNode=2175
Source: Taiwan Today
http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=228014&ctNode=2175
