Government Proposes Paid Mental Health Leave for Civil Servants

TaiwanPlus News

The civil service ministry has proposed granting three paid mental health leave days for civil servants. More than 360,000 people in the country would benefit from this potential nationwide change.

Transcript

00:00Sitting at a desk all day, staring at a screen, the daily grind can take its toll.

00:07That's why Taiwan's government is mulling paid mental health leave for office workers,

00:12starting with the country's over 360-thousand civil servants, clerical workers and administrative staff.

00:30The draft would provide three additional mental health days on top of seven days of personal leave already available.

00:46Leave could be taken by the hour, and employers will not be allowed to deny requests or let it affect performance reviews.

00:53Still, some say more needs to be done to truly address employee mental health and streamline the system.

01:00A government survey shows that nearly 9% of people aged 15 and over show signs of moderate to severe depression in Taiwan.

01:27Yet treatment rates remain low despite over an estimated million cases nationwide.

01:33Since August 2024, high school and university students have been entitled to three mental health days per semester.

01:40By contrast, many teachers don't receive anything like the same benefit.

01:44There's no nationwide policy across all school levels, and only a few cities and counties offer paid mental health leave.

01:50Many hope the change in regulations will give civil servants the time they need to care for their mental health,

02:13and give Taiwanese society the space to have open conversations about it,

02:18paving the way for a better, healthier work environment across all industries.

02:22Andy Xiu and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.

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