On 2nd Anniversary of Inauguration, Ministry of Labor Reviews 5 Major Achievements Including Flexible Parental Leave
On the second anniversary of President Lai Ching-te's inauguration (as per the original text), the Ministry of Labor on May 20th announced five major policy achievements, including promoting flexible parental leave, stabilizing the Labor Insurance Fund, raising the minimum wage, reducing occupational hazards, and expanding migrant worker quotas in exchange for raising local salaries. The Ministry stated it will continue to strive for "Dignified Labor, Friendly Workplace."
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- 📰 Published: May 20, 2026 at 16:14
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As President Lai Ching-te marks his second anniversary of inauguration today (as per original text), the Ministry of Labor (MOL) reviewed five major policy achievements, including the promotion of flexible parental leave, maintaining the water level of the Labor Insurance Fund, and programs for increasing migrant worker employment by raising salaries for local labor. The ministry will continue to work towards "Dignified Labor, Friendly Workplace."
On the second anniversary of President Lai's inauguration, the Ministry of Labor explained its five major policy achievements in a press release today. These include creating a family-friendly workplace; maintaining the level of the Labor Insurance Fund; initiatives from salary increases and litigation assistance to protections for delivery workers; strengthening workplace disaster reduction; and promoting labor force development, utilization, and enhancement.
The MOL stated that the "New Flexible Childcare System" promoted since January 1st this year has been effective. Statistics show that there have been a cumulative 18,408 applications for parental leave on a daily basis, indicating that the new flexible system is indeed helpful for families with children. The ministry will also plan to upgrade the flexible parental leave to a "parenting leave" applicable until a child is 6 years old, and make more reasonable plans for "marriage leave, maternity leave, and paternity leave" to encourage joint participation by both parents.
The ministry said that it launched the "New System for Strengthening Corporate Childcare" in May, providing strong support from three aspects: human resources, costs, and environment. It has increased subsidies for companies to provide childcare allowances to employees and added various support items such as personnel and operating expenses.
Regarding the stabilization of the Labor Insurance Fund's cash flow, the MOL stated that to ensure the rights of the insured, it has continued to inject government budget funds. As of the end of March this year, the balance of the Labor Insurance Fund was NT$1.4047 trillion. At the same time, it has also legislated the "government's replenishment and final payment responsibility" to clarify the basis for the government's annual allocation to the Labor Insurance Fund.
Furthermore, to effectively raise domestic wage levels, the MOL stated that from January 1st this year, the monthly minimum wage was increased to NT$29,500, and the hourly minimum wage to NT$196, benefiting approximately 2.47 million workers. This is the 10th consecutive year of minimum wage increases since 2016, with the total increase in monthly salary reaching 47.4% and in hourly wage reaching 63.3%.
The MOL pointed out that to more effectively curb occupational accidents and prevent workplace bullying, it has completed the largest amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Act in nearly 10 years. This mandates that owners of large-scale construction projects must include safety risk assessments in the design stage. It also strengthens contractor safety management, requiring business entities to conduct risk assessments and provide hazard information when contracting out work. All levels of contractors must also follow the original business unit's disaster prevention measures and cooperate with contracting management obligations to eliminate safety loopholes. A three-year "Strengthened Workplace Hazard Reduction Action Plan" has also been launched.
In response to industrial labor shortages, the MOL said that starting January 1st this year, it implemented an expansion of the retention of senior migrant workers in the manufacturing industry. When an employer raises the salary of a hired local worker by at least NT$2,000, for every local worker who receives a raise, one additional foreign skilled personnel quota is granted, up to a maximum of 10% of the number of its insured local workers.
The MOL stated this is the first time a quota for migrant workers or foreign skilled personnel has been linked to "raising salaries for local labor." As of the end of April, 1,699 manufacturing companies have been approved, benefiting and successfully increasing the salaries of 3,456 Taiwanese local workers, and the number of applications continues to grow.
The MOL indicated that it will continue to strive towards the goal of "Dignified Labor, Friendly Workplace" in the future, ensuring that policy directions meet the needs of social development, and jointly promoting the progress of Taiwan's labor environment.
On the second anniversary of President Lai's inauguration, the Ministry of Labor explained its five major policy achievements in a press release today. These include creating a family-friendly workplace; maintaining the level of the Labor Insurance Fund; initiatives from salary increases and litigation assistance to protections for delivery workers; strengthening workplace disaster reduction; and promoting labor force development, utilization, and enhancement.
The MOL stated that the "New Flexible Childcare System" promoted since January 1st this year has been effective. Statistics show that there have been a cumulative 18,408 applications for parental leave on a daily basis, indicating that the new flexible system is indeed helpful for families with children. The ministry will also plan to upgrade the flexible parental leave to a "parenting leave" applicable until a child is 6 years old, and make more reasonable plans for "marriage leave, maternity leave, and paternity leave" to encourage joint participation by both parents.
The ministry said that it launched the "New System for Strengthening Corporate Childcare" in May, providing strong support from three aspects: human resources, costs, and environment. It has increased subsidies for companies to provide childcare allowances to employees and added various support items such as personnel and operating expenses.
Regarding the stabilization of the Labor Insurance Fund's cash flow, the MOL stated that to ensure the rights of the insured, it has continued to inject government budget funds. As of the end of March this year, the balance of the Labor Insurance Fund was NT$1.4047 trillion. At the same time, it has also legislated the "government's replenishment and final payment responsibility" to clarify the basis for the government's annual allocation to the Labor Insurance Fund.
Furthermore, to effectively raise domestic wage levels, the MOL stated that from January 1st this year, the monthly minimum wage was increased to NT$29,500, and the hourly minimum wage to NT$196, benefiting approximately 2.47 million workers. This is the 10th consecutive year of minimum wage increases since 2016, with the total increase in monthly salary reaching 47.4% and in hourly wage reaching 63.3%.
The MOL pointed out that to more effectively curb occupational accidents and prevent workplace bullying, it has completed the largest amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Act in nearly 10 years. This mandates that owners of large-scale construction projects must include safety risk assessments in the design stage. It also strengthens contractor safety management, requiring business entities to conduct risk assessments and provide hazard information when contracting out work. All levels of contractors must also follow the original business unit's disaster prevention measures and cooperate with contracting management obligations to eliminate safety loopholes. A three-year "Strengthened Workplace Hazard Reduction Action Plan" has also been launched.
In response to industrial labor shortages, the MOL said that starting January 1st this year, it implemented an expansion of the retention of senior migrant workers in the manufacturing industry. When an employer raises the salary of a hired local worker by at least NT$2,000, for every local worker who receives a raise, one additional foreign skilled personnel quota is granted, up to a maximum of 10% of the number of its insured local workers.
The MOL stated this is the first time a quota for migrant workers or foreign skilled personnel has been linked to "raising salaries for local labor." As of the end of April, 1,699 manufacturing companies have been approved, benefiting and successfully increasing the salaries of 3,456 Taiwanese local workers, and the number of applications continues to grow.
The MOL indicated that it will continue to strive towards the goal of "Dignified Labor, Friendly Workplace" in the future, ensuring that policy directions meet the needs of social development, and jointly promoting the progress of Taiwan's labor environment.