Newsletter
Draft Amendments to the 《Gender Equality in Employment Act》 and 《Employment Insurance Act》
Draft Amendments to the 《Gender Equality in Employment Act》 and 《Employment Insurance Act》
Susan Lo/Gloria Chu/Mayco Chan
On May 28, 2026, the Executive Yuan released draft amendments to the Gender Equality in Employment Act and Employment Insurance Act and submitted them to the Legislative Yuan for review. The draft amendments focus primarily on parental leave, maternity leave, and paternity leave.
The key points of the draft amendments are summarized below.
1. Extension of maternity leave to 12 weeks, and both paternity medical leave and paternity leave have also been extended to 14 days.
Under Article 15 of the current Gender Equality in Employment Act, employees are entitled to eight weeks of maternity leave. Under the draft amendments, maternity leave would be extended to 12 weeks. For the additional four weeks of leave (i.e., week nine through week 12), employees may choose to return to work earlier with the support of medical assessment.
2. Expansion of employer eligibility to apply for maternity leave wage subsidies
When an employee takes maternity leave due to childbirth and the employer pays wages for a period exceeding eight weeks; or, in the event of a miscarriage occurring before the completion of three months of pregnancy, if the employer pays wages for a period of one week or five days of maternity leave, the employer may apply to the Labor Insurance Bureau for a wage subsidy.
3. Expansion of the scope and application procedures for parental leave, permitting each parent to receive up to nine months of childcare allowance
Under the current law, employees may apply for up to two years of unpaid parental leave before the child reaches the age of three. The proposed amendment not only increases the eligible age for applying for parental leave to children under six years old, extending eligibility until immediately prior to the child’s seventh birthday, but also renames the leave from “infant parental leave” to “childcare leave”.
Furthermore, where a child under six years of age requires care from both parents due to illness, school suspension, or other specified circumstances, each parent may apply for parental leave for up to 60 days for each child. Such leave will be counted toward the overall parental leave entitlement.
Article 11 of the Employment Insurance Act is amended to extend the eligible child age for applying for childcare leave allowance to six years of age. Where both parents have received six months of childcare allowance pursuant to Article 19-2, each parent may be entitled to an additional three-months allowance, thereby permitting up to nine months of childcare allowance each parent.
4. Tax incentives for employer-sponsored childcare measures
The draft amendment proposes the addition of Article 23-1 to the Gender Equality in Employment Act. Under the proposed provision, if an employer provides childcare facilities or implements childcare-related measures, the associated expenses may be deducted from taxable income at up to 200% of the actual amount incurred.
5. Adjust insured salary table for employment insurance
Currently, the insured salary for employment insurance is determined in accordance with the wage brackets prescribed by the Labor Insurance Act. This draft proposal, pursuant to the newly enacted Article 9-1 of the Employment Insurance Act, seeks to establish a separate classification table.
These draft amendments are primarily intended to address Taiwan’s declining birth rate. The amendments seek to help working parents better balance employment and childcare responsibilities while reducing employers' personnel-related costs.
Lee and Li’s Labor Practice Group has extensive experience assisting employers in responding to labor law developments and updating internal policies and practices to ensure compliance. Should you require any assistance, please feel free to contact our Labor Practice Group.