Labor ministry adjusts overtime policyBETTER BALANCE: The biggest obstacle preventing staff from taking parental leave is the administrative procedures involved, while overtime rules risk overworking othersBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporter, with CNAThe Ministry of Labor yesterday said that it has decided not to relax regulations governing workers’ overtime hours when it implements flexible parental leave next month, adding that it would instead focus on helping businesses better manage their workforce by ensuring that employers reasonably allocate overtime hours, clarify leave arrangements and establish a talent pool. As part of the policy’s supporting measures, the ministry had initially planned to allow employers to assign workers who have reached the maximum allowable overtime hours to substitute for employees taking emergency parental leave. Meanwhile, the regulations already give employers adequate flexibility to allocate overtime hours,” Huang said. Most only know that employees cannot work more than 12 hours per day and overtime hours cannot exceed 46 hours,” she said. “Employers know that, under the new policy, workers can request parental leave five days in advance so that substitutes can be arranged.

Source: Taipei Times December 25, 2025 17:23 UTC