COVID-19: Virus-related childcare leave must be approvedBy Lai Hsiao-tung / Staff reporterGovernment agencies and companies must approve “disease prevention childcare leave” requests by employees who need to take care of a child under the age of 12 or with a disability, although employers would not be required to pay them while they are on leave, labor authorities said yesterday. If an employee’s family member cannot take care of themselves and is under home isolation or quarantine, or centralized isolation or quarantine, and needs to be taken care of, the employee may also take “epidemic prevention isolation leave,” it said. Employers would not be required to pay employees’ salaries while they are on leave, it said, adding that employers and employees may negotiate the terms. The New Power Party’s (NPP) caucus said last year it had asked that employees taking “disease prevention childcare leave” be paid. Salary subsidies for “disease prevention childcare leave” should be included in discussions of the Executive Yuan’s proposals to amend the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Recovery (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例), and the COVID-19 relief budget should be increased to NT$630 billion, the NPP caucus said, urging other causes and lawmakers to support it.

Source: Taipei Times May 17, 2021 15:56 UTC