| dc.description.abstract | The Taiwanese government has established policies to increase the country’s fertility rate and give workers job protections associated with childbirth responsibilities. These policies include legislation such as the Gender Equality in Employment Act, “maternity pensions,” flexible work hours, and workplace nursing breaks. Nevertheless, we are witnessing many maternity-related disputes and appeals, with the most common issues being reinstatement, loss of salaries and bonuses, and no enforcement of legal severance requirements. According to the Republic of China Labor Ministry, less than 40 percent of workers formally disputing their statuses have won their appeals for penalty-free reinstatement.
Taiwan’s aging population and low birthrate exert significant societal and economic impacts. The imbalance might cause a decline in student numbers, possibly leading to school closures. Further, decreases in worker numbers are resulting in hiring challenges for many industries and individual businesses. Taiwan’s aging population is expected to increase medical expenses for elderly citizens and demand long-term care providers. As tax revenues decrease and fiscal burdens increase, younger workers will have increasing responsibilities in terms of money and time spent providing personal assistance to elders.
This study uses 2016 and 2019 data on reinstatement trends following an unpaid parental leave from the Academia Sinica Survey Research Data Archive. Logit regressions were used to analyze merged data for the two years, with personal difficulties, workplace reinstatement, the likelihood to apply for unpaid parental leave, and performance review as dependent variables. Results indicate positive correlations among encountering difficulties, reinstatement guarantees, and negative performance reviews for workers applying for unpaid leave. A negative correlation was noted between successful workplace return and applying for unpaid leave. | en_US |