In accordance with Article 16 of the Act of Gender Equality in Employment, employees may, after an employment period of six months, apply for unpaid parental leave before each of their children reaches the age of three. The period of leave is effective until the child reaches the age of three years old but may not exceed two years. During the period of unpaid parental leave, employees may continue to participate in their original social insurance program.

Considering the fact that, in practice, some employers are willing to offer more than what is regulated by the law and refrain from calculating the limit period of parental leave by combining the total months of leave for employees raising two or more children at the same time, whether or not employees may continue to participate in their original social insurance programs has become an issue of uncertainty.

To encourage the establishment of family-friendly working environments while protecting the social insurance interests of employees, starting December 1, 2016, if the employer agrees to not combine the calculation of unpaid parental leave for employees raising two or more children at the same time, the affected employees may still continue to participate in their original social insurance programs. The insurance premium originally borne by the employer will be exempted and the insurance premium originally borne by the employee may be deferred up to three years. However, this period of unpaid parental leave must still conform to the regulation stipulating that "employees may apply for unpaid parental leave before any of their children reaches the age of three, and that the period of leave is effective until the child reaches the age of three years old but may not exceed two years."

To request or understand more details on matters related to unpaid parental leave, please call the Ministry of Labor's toll-free number at 0800-085151 to receive services and explanation by dedicated staff.