It is illegal for employers to require female employees to attach certificates or make other forms of difficulty when they take menstrual leave, and they can be fined up to 300,000 yuan.

(Picture provided by the Bureau of Labor Affairs)

[Reporter Lai Xiaotong/New Taipei Report] The Labor Bureau of New Taipei City has received reports from the public that when they ask their employers for maternity leave, they are required to come to the company to fill out the leave form in person on the same day, otherwise they will be regarded as absent from duty; In order to improve performance, only half-day leave is allowed; some employees go to work on the next day of menstrual leave, and are taken to the hospital by a female supervisor to see a gynecologist; some companies even require female employees to take test paper when taking menstrual leave. In the above cases, employers are fined 100,000 yuan.

The Labor Bureau pointed out that "menstrual leave" entered into law immediately after the implementation of the "Gender Work Equality Act" on March 8, 2002. There are still small and medium-sized enterprises claiming to workers, "Our company does not have menstrual leave", or not directly rejecting employees' applications, but Obstructing or evading in other ways in a disguised form is a violation of the law.

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According to the Labor Bureau, menstrual leave is paid at half the salary of sick leave, and more than 3 days are included in the calculation of sick leave. Some employers think that menstrual leave is sick leave, and they can require workers to provide medical certificates. The Amendment clearly points out that menstrual discomfort symptoms are difficult to judge objectively or check with instruments. Even if you seek medical treatment, the doctor will make a diagnosis based on the patient's description of the physical symptoms, and each person has a different degree of tolerance to pain, and it is difficult to distinguish the degree of tolerance. Therefore, the determination is very difficulty.

In order to make the setting of menstrual leave consistent with the intention of safeguarding the health of female employees, employers are not required to submit relevant certification documents.

Chen Ruijia, director of the Labor Bureau, reminded that according to Article 21 of the "Gender Equality in Work Law", female employees can take one day of menstrual leave every month, and the employer cannot refuse or have other disadvantages. Employers who request menstrual leave must attach certificates or other Making things difficult in the form is illegal and can be fined up to 300,000 yuan after verification.