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Good practice Imported

Taiwan's Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法) — Comprehensive Workplace Rights and Equal Pay (2002, amended 2021)

Taiwan · Taipei · See the Taiwan profile · See the Taipei profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 45% 74/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Taiwan's 2002 Act mandates equal pay, paid maternity leave, paternity leave, sexual harassment prevention and flexible work. Female LFP rose from ~46% (2002) to 51.3% (2022); pay gap narrowed 18.2% → 14% (2007–2018), but a 1.6× income differential persisted in 2022.

46 %
Female labour-force participation (2002)
51.3 %
Female labour-force participation (2022)
18.2 %
Gender pay gap (mean hourly earnings) (2007)
14 %
Gender pay gap (mean hourly earnings) (2018)
752,000 NT$
Average declared annual income, men (2022)
470,000 NT$
Average declared annual income, women (2022)
1.6 x
Income differential (men:women) (2022, 11-year high)
Taiwan's Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法) — Comprehensive Workplace Rights and Equal Pay (2002, amended 2021)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ministry of Labor, Executive Yuan, Taiwan
Period
2002–present (major amendments 2013, 2021)
Keywords
government, labor law, workplace equality, economic empowerment

Context

Taiwan's Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法) was enacted in January 2002 by the Ministry of Labor after a decade-long campaign by feminist and labour organisations, to address discrimination and inequality facing women in the workplace.

Activities

The Act bans gender discrimination in recruitment, pay, promotion and termination; guarantees 8 weeks of paid maternity leave; requires larger employers (250+ staff) to provide childcare or subsidies; and requires employers of 30 or more to maintain sexual-harassment complaint procedures. A 2013 amendment added paternity and family-care leave; a 2021 amendment expanded flexible working arrangements and parental-leave eligibility.

Results

Female labour-force participation rose from about 46% in 2002 to 51.3% in 2022, and the measured gender pay gap narrowed from 18.2% in 2007 to about 14% in 2018. However, 2022 Ministry of Finance data show average declared income of NT$752,000 for men versus NT$470,000 for women, a 1.6-fold gap that was the widest in 11 years.

Conclusions

Sources cited (Brookings Institution, National Taiwan University) attribute the persistent income gap mainly to occupational segregation and women's concentration in part-time work rather than direct wage discrimination, suggesting the Act's formal equal-pay clause has not been sufficient on its own to close structural gaps without complementary wage-transparency and enforcement measures.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

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Data sources

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