Male parental leave uptake surpasses women in May: MOL

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) The share of men applying for daily parental leave exceeded that of women for the first time in May, reaching 50.3 percent, according to the Ministry of Labor (MOL).

Employees with children under the age of three are entitled to up to two years of parental leave, which is typically taken in units of at least one month. During the leave period, workers receive 80 percent of their insured salary.

A new "daily parental leave" system took effect on Jan. 1, allowing employees to take up to 30 days of parental leave as single-day leave during their two-year entitlement period.

The MOL said nearly 12,000 people applied for daily parental leave in May, filing more than 24,000 leave applications in total.

Male applicants accounted for 50.3 percent of all applicants in May, surpassing female applicants for the first time, the ministry said.

Since the policy took effect at the beginning of the year, men have accounted for 48.4 percent of cumulative applicants, compared with 51.6 percent for women, reflecting a growing trend of shared childcare responsibilities between parents, according to the MOL.

To encourage employers to support the program, the government provides businesses with fewer than 30 employees a subsidy of NT$1,000 (US$31.8) per day for each worker taking daily parental leave.

Employers need only register an account online, after which the MOL will disburses subsidies on a quarterly basis.

According to the ministry, 989 businesses qualified for subsidies in the first quarter of the year, and 236 have already registered their bank accounts through the ministry's website.

Nearly NT$2 million was distributed directly to participating businesses on May 27, said the ministry.

The MOL urged the remaining 753 eligible businesses, about 70 percent of the total, to register an account as soon as possible to receive the subsidies.