Taiwan introduces greater flexibility for family leave entitlements

Taiwan has introduced enhancements to existing parental leave and family care leave entitlements to provide additional flexibility to working parents. Each working parent may now take up to 30 days of unpaid parental leave in single-day increments, while seven days of unpaid family care leave may now be taken on an hourly basis. These changes took effect on 1 January 2026.

Background

The changes were implemented by the Ministry of Labor from 1 January 2026 through legislative amendments to the Regulations for Parental Leave Without Pay, Labor Leave Rules, and Enforcement Rules of the Employment Insurance Act.

Additional information and guidance on the changes can be found on the Ministry of Labor’s website here (opens a new window).

Key details

Unpaid parental leave

Employees are entitled to two years of unpaid parental leave, to be taken before their child turns three years old. While employers are not required to pay wages during this parental leave, employees who have accumulated at least one year of statutory employment insurance are entitled to a government subsidy of 80% salary for up to six months of parental leave.

Prior to the recent change, employees could only take unpaid parental leave in:

• six-month blocks, or

• blocks of at least 30 days, up to a maximum of two times.

From 1 January 2026, in addition to the above two options, each working parent may also choose to take up to 30 days of parental leave in single-day increments. These 30 days are counted within the total entitlement of two years of unpaid parental leave and are not in addition to it.

Employees must request such single days of parental leave at least five days in advance. However, in temporary sudden situations such as when the child is sick, or if school or childcare has been suspended, employees may request the leave one day in advance. There is no change in the notice period for parental leave of at least 30 days, for which employees must submit applications at least 10 days in advance.

As smaller employers may find day-based parental leave disruptive to daily operations, the government has introduced a subsidy program to encourage them to support employees in taking such leave. Employers with fewer than 30 employees may be eligible to receive a government subsidy of NTD 1,000 for each single day of parental leave taken by an employee. More details on eligibility may be found here (opens a new window).

The Ministry of Labor has also proposed an upcoming reform on the payment of the government subsidy for parental leave. Under the proposed reform, if both parents have received the full government subsidy for six months for the same child, they may each obtain an additional month of the subsidy. This would extend the maximum duration of the government subsidy to seven months per parent. As the proposed reform is still undergoing the legislative process, it remains subject to potential changes. If there are any major developments, the Lockton Global People Solutions Compliance Practice will update this article accordingly.

Family care leave

Employees are entitled to up to seven days of unpaid family care leave per year to care for family members. These seven days are included in the annual entitlement of 14 days of unpaid personal leave available for employees to attend to personal matters. Employers are prohibited from rejecting requests for this leave.

Previously, employees could only take family care leave in single-day increments. From 1 January 2026, the seven days of family care leave may also be taken on an hourly basis. This means that if an employee has normal working hours of eight hours per day, the employee will be entitled to take up to 56 hours of family care leave on an hourly basis. If the employee has a different number of daily normal working hours under their employment agreement, the maximum number of hours of family care leave shall be based on those hours, multiplied by seven days.

If the 56 hours of family care leave have been fully utilized and employees require additional time off to care for family members, they may request time off in hours from their remaining unused personal leave entitlement.

Employer action: ACT

Employers should update their leave policies and procedures and employee handbooks, as needed, to reflect the changes. As the changes introduce more flexibility in how employees can use parental leave and family care leave, employers should also plan to mitigate the potential impact on their operational and manpower arrangements.

Written in collaboration with:

Lawrence Li

Director and General Manager, Lockton Companies (Taiwan) Limited

lawrence.li@lockton.com (opens a new window)

Emily Chen

Senior Vice President, People Solutions, Lockton Companies (Taiwan) Limited

emily.chen@lockton.com (opens a new window)

Further Information

Links to laws and regulations related to flexible parental leave without pay and family care leave | Ministry of Labor (opens a new window)

Flexible Parental Leave without Pay | Ministry of Labor (opens a new window)

"Draft Amendments to Some Provisions of the Employment Insurance Law" to strengthen labor employment protection | Ministry of Labor (opens a new window)