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- Employers offering flexible working hours and at least one additional support measure for female employees can receive a monthly NT$5,000 incentive.
- Subsidies for continuous hiring older workers can now be applied for year‑round.
- Company representatives and certain related parties will bear the same legal liability for employee sexual harassment.
Taiwan's Ministry of Labor has recently announced a series of enhanced measures aimed at encouraging women, middle-aged, and older individuals to re-enter the workforce, while also strengthening mechanisms to prevent workplace sexual harassment.
Women re-employment
The Ministry has expanded eligibility for its women re-employment programme, removing the previous restriction that limited participation to those who had left the labour market for “family reasons”. Under the revised programme, all women who have been out of the workforce for more than 180 days are now eligible.
After registering as job seekers with public employment service agencies and enrolling in the programme, participants who stay employed for more than 30 days – regardless of whether the job is obtained through referral or on their own – may apply for a re-employment incentive.
Previously offered as a one-off NT$30,000 payment after 90 days of employment, the incentive has been restructured into instalments of NT$10,000 for every 30 days worked, up to a maximum of NT$60,000.
To accommodate transitional challenges faced by returning workers, participants who change jobs within 60 days of re-employment may still qualify for the incentive, provided they subsequently meet the 30-day employment requirement.
Employer incentives have also been raised. Companies that provide female employees with flexible working hours and at least one additional workplace support measure – such as family care assistance or subsidies, employee assistance programmes, or on-the-job training – will receive a monthly NT$5,000 incentive per employee, up from NT$3,000, for up to 12 months.
In addition, the Ministry has revised the women’s self-training incentive to promote skills development, requiring participants to complete at least eight hours of training courses.
Middle-aged and elderly employment
The Ministry has relaxed four key eligibility criteria under its employment promotion measures for workers aged 55 and above:
- Wage thresholds for part-time workers have been lowered. Workers aged 55-64 earning at least one-third of the minimum wage may now apply for a NT$3,500 incentive, while those aged 65 and above earning at least one-quarter of the minimum wage can receive NT$2,500.
- Incentive eligibility now opens after 30 days of employment, down from the previous 90-day requirement.
- The scope of eligible employment has been expanded beyond indefinite contracts to include fixed-term arrangements such as temporary, short-term, seasonal, and project-based roles, increasing job flexibility and opportunities.
- Workers who involuntarily leave their jobs will no longer be required to recalculate their three-month unemployment eligibility period.
To further encourage workforce retention, the Ministry has extended the application window for employer subsidies related to continuous hiring of older employees from two months to 12 months, allowing companies to apply throughout the year.
Prevention of workplace sexual harassment
To strengthen workplace protections, the Ministry has clarified that six categories of de facto persons in-charge who engage in sexual harassment will bear the same legal liability as the highest-ranking supervisor. These include:
- Current or former directors, supervisors, or managerial officers
- Individuals holding 20% or more of a company’s shares
- Persons identified by labour unions, shareholders, suppliers, or complainants as holding equivalent positions to a company representative, with supporting evidence
- The company representative’s spouse or former spouse; blood relatives within four degrees of kinship; spouses of blood relatives within three degrees of kinship; and the spouse's blood relatives within three degrees of kinship and their spouses
- Representatives who have been re‑elected but not yet formally registered
- Individuals holding positions of particular importance within the organisation
Employees subjected to sexual harassment by any of the above parties may file complaints directly with local competent authorities in accordance with the law without waiting for an internal investigation, ensuring stronger protection for both employees and job seekers.
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