Maternity and Parental Leave in Taiwan as a Foreign Employee: What Is Paid in 2026, and by Whom

The labor statutes that grant maternity and parental leave in Taiwan do not make nationality a condition. The allowance paid during parental leave is an Employment Insurance benefit, and that insurance covers only some foreign employees.

Take two American engineers, each two years into a job at the same company in Hsinchu. One is married to a Taiwanese national who has household registration in Taiwan, and has been permitted to reside and work on that basis. The other works on a permit the company obtained, and that engineer's spouse is also American. If each has a child, both can apply for unpaid parental leave (育嬰留職停薪). Only the first can claim the allowance.

Leave around the birth, paid by the employer

Article 15 of the Gender Equality in Employment Act (性別平等工作法) sets the types and length of leave. The Act defines an employee as a person hired by an employer to work for pay (Article 3), and the definition has no nationality requirement.

The wage rule for maternity leave is in Article 50 of the Labor Standards Act, and it applies to workers covered by that Act. For the two shorter miscarriage leaves, the Gender Equality in Employment Act says only that pay is calculated under the relevant laws.

The employer pays wages for check-up leave and for the spouse's leave in full. For each of the two, the employer may then apply to the Ministry of Labor for a subsidy covering the pay for days beyond the fifth, unless another law already requires more than five paid days (Article 15, paragraph 7). The Bureau of Labor Insurance handles the subsidy.

Separately from wages, Labor Insurance pays a maternity benefit. A woman who gives birth after being insured for 280 days receives a lump sum equal to 60 days of her average monthly insured salary (Labor Insurance Act, Article 31 and Article 32). The workers that Act covers include foreign nationals currently employed (Article 6, paragraph 3).

Unpaid parental leave: until the child turns three, for up to two years

After six months of service, an employee may apply for parental leave before the child turns three. The leave can run until the child's third birthday but may not exceed two years (Article 16, paragraph 1). Each parent applies to their own employer, and the employer may not refuse (Article 21).

During the leave the employee may stay in their existing social insurance schemes. The employer's share of the premiums is waived, and the employee may defer their own share for up to three years (Article 16, paragraph 2). Unless employer and employee agree otherwise, the leave period does not count toward seniority (implementing regulations, Article 4). The employee may not sign an employment contract with anyone else while on leave (Article 7).

Since January 2026, part of it can be taken a day at a time

Article 2 of the implementing regulations (育嬰留職停薪實施辦法) was amended on November 21, 2025, and the amendment took effect on January 1, 2026 (Article 9). As a rule, each leave still runs for at least six months. An employee who needs less may take a leave of 30 days to under six months up to twice, and leaves of under 30 days in units of one day, up to a combined 30 days.

A leave of 30 days or more needs 10 days' notice; a leave under 30 days needs 5. When the child is sick, or the daycare or school is closed, and the employee has to provide the care personally, one day's notice is enough. If a sudden need makes even that impossible, someone else may file the application for the employee. Employer and employee must agree in advance how requests are sent: in writing, by email, by messaging app or by other electronic means.

According to a Ministry of Labor Q&A updated on March 20, 2026, an employee taking leave by the day may choose which working days to request, and the 30 days count toward the two-year maximum. It also says an employer with fewer than 30 employees receives a fixed NT$1,000 incentive for each such day an employee takes. Public schools, government agencies and state-owned enterprises are excluded.

The allowance depends on Employment Insurance coverage

The employer pays no wages during parental leave. An insured person with at least one year of Employment Insurance coverage in total may claim the parental leave allowance (育嬰留職停薪津貼) under Article 11, paragraph 1, subparagraph 4, of the Employment Insurance Act. The allowance is 60% of the average monthly insured salary for the six months up to the month the leave starts, paid for up to six months per child (Article 19-2). Since July 1, 2021, the government has paid a further 20% wage subsidy together with the allowance, for a total of 80%. If both parents are insured, each may receive six months. Since January 1, 2026, a period shorter than a month is paid pro rata on a 30-day month, so leave taken by the day is paid too (Bureau of Labor Insurance).

The 80% is measured against the insured salary, not actual pay. Employment Insurance follows the Labor Insurance rules on insured salary (Article 40). In the grade table in force from January 1, 2026, monthly pay of NT$43,901 or more falls in the top grade of NT$45,800, so the allowance and subsidy together cannot exceed NT$36,640 a month.

For a foreign employee the first question is whether they are insured at all. Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Employment Insurance Act covers nationals of the Republic of China, and foreigners who are married to a national with household registration in Taiwan, have been permitted to reside, and work legally in Taiwan. A second group was added on January 1, 2026, when Article 25 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals took effect: foreign professionals employed in Taiwan who have been granted permanent residence. If an employee is granted permanent residence while employed, the employer must enroll them on the day it is granted.

A person in neither group is not within the insured categories as the statutes are written. That includes someone working on an employer-sponsored work permit or an Employment Gold Card who has neither a Taiwanese spouse nor permanent residence. Such a person, like the second engineer in the example, can take the leave but cannot receive the allowance. If that engineer is later granted permanent residence, coverage starts that day, but the one-year coverage requirement must still be met before a claim. The routes to permanent residence are covered in When Can You Apply for Permanent Residence (APRC) in Taiwan?. To confirm whether you are enrolled and for how long, ask your employer's HR staff or the Bureau of Labor Insurance.

No dismissal or penalty for pregnancy or leave

An employer may not terminate the contract during maternity leave. The only exception is where a natural disaster or other force majeure makes it impossible to continue the business and the competent authority has approved (Labor Standards Act, Article 13). Work rules and employment contracts may not provide that an employee must resign or go on unpaid leave upon marriage, pregnancy, childbirth or childcare, and none of these may be used as a reason for dismissal. A term that says otherwise is void, and a termination on that basis has no effect (Gender Equality in Employment Act, Article 11). The employer faces a fine of NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million and publication of its name (Article 38-1).

An employer also may not refuse a request for check-up leave, maternity leave or parental leave, or treat the leave as an absence that affects a perfect-attendance bonus or a performance evaluation (Article 21). The fine is NT$20,000 to NT$300,000, again with publication (Article 38).

When parental leave ends and the employee applies to return, the employer may refuse only on one of four statutory grounds, such as closure, operating losses or business contraction, and only with the competent authority's consent. Even then the employer must give 30 days' notice and pay severance or retirement pay at the statutory rate (Article 17).

An employee who is denied leave or penalized for taking it may file a complaint with the local competent authority, the municipal or county (city) government (Article 33, Article 34). For disputes over wages or dismissal, see Labor dispute mediation in Taiwan for foreign employees.

Whether a home-country leave or benefit program still applies while you work in Taiwan is a question for an adviser there; in the United States the rules vary by state. If you and your employer disagree about insurance enrollment or reinstatement, you can email Hovering International Law Firm at wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw with your residence status, start date, due date and the employer's reply. This column is general information as of October 6, 2026; the answer in a particular case depends on the contract and the insurance records.

Official sources

• Gender Equality in Employment Act (last amended August 16, 2023), Art. 3, Art. 4, Art. 11, Art. 15, Art. 16, Art. 17, Art. 21, Art. 33, Art. 34, Art. 38, Art. 38-1
• Labor Standards Act, Art. 13, Art. 50
• Regulations for Implementing Unpaid Parental Leave for Raising Children (育嬰留職停薪實施辦法; amended November 21, 2025, in force January 1, 2026), Art. 2, Art. 4, Art. 7, Art. 9
• Employment Insurance Act, Art. 5, Art. 11, Art. 19-2, Art. 40
• Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals, Art. 25 and its amendment history (amended and promulgated September 24, 2025; Article 25 in force January 1, 2026)
• Labor Insurance Act, Art. 6, Art. 31, Art. 32, Art. 76-1
• Bureau of Labor Insurance, Ministry of Labor: parental leave allowance, benefit standard and period (updated April 20, 2026); Labor Insurance insured salary grade table (table in force from January 1, 2026); notice on Employment Insurance for foreign professionals with permanent residence (December 22, 2025)
• Ministry of Labor: Q&A on flexible parental leave and family care leave (updated March 20, 2026); press release on Employment Insurance for foreign professionals with permanent residence (updated April 14, 2026)

Checked: October 6, 2026