The Act of Gender Equality in Employment has cleared the legislative floor. The labor ministry said on Friday that this revision will have a positive impact on more than 300,000 workers.
Under the act, female workers are allowed five days paid leave for prenatal health checks, while paid leave for male workers at the time of their children's birth has been increased from three to five days.
The ministry said the two new regulations would benefit 174,000 male workers and 140,000 female workers, but would cost employers NT$1.26 billion (US $420 million).
Under current laws, female workers can enjoy 8 weeks of paid leave after childbirth and another six months leave on 60% salary. The new law also allows female workers to take three days of menstrual leave with half pay, which is a change from the current no-pay rule.
The amended regulations also raised the fine for discrimination against workers on the basis of gender or sexual orientation from a maximum of NT$500,000 to a maximum of NT$1.5 million (about US$50,000).