32. Our employees wish to apply for continuing their insurance during their unpaid parental leave, what are the criteria? How should the insurance premium be paid? When the insured persons resume employment after their parental leave, do they need to notify the Bureau of Labor Insurance?
- As long as their employer approves of their unpaid parental leave, employees may apply for continuing their insurance during unpaid parental leave, even if they have been employed for less than 6 months
According to Article 16 of the Act of Gender Equality in Employment, after being in service for six months, employees may apply for parental leave without pay before any of their children reach the age of three years old. The period of this leave is until their children reach the age of three years old but may not exceed two years. When employees are raising over two children at the same time, the period of their parental leave shall be computed aggregately and the maximum period shall be limited to two years received by the youngest child. During the period of parental leave without pay, employees may continue to participate in their original social insurance program. According to Lao-Dong-Tiao-Si-Zi No. 1040130693 announced by the Ministry of Labor on April 27, 2015, for employers who offer a condition superior to the regulation prescribed in Paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the Act of Gender Equality in Employment and approve the unpaid parental leave of employees who have not served for more than 6 months, the employees' social insurance and insurance premium originally borne by the employer during the unpaid parental leave shall be applicable to Paragraph 2 in Article 16 of the Act of Gender Equality in Employment. Therefore, given that their employer agrees to their unpaid parental leave and prior to their children reaching 3 years of age, insured persons may continue to participate in insurance during their unpaid parental leave even if they have not served their employer for more than 6 months.
- The insurance premium that should be borne by an insured unit shall be borne by the government, and the insurance premium payable by an insured person may be paid later
a、 Because insured persons on unpaid parental leave are unlikely to experience occupational accident, their insurance include only ordinary insurance and employment insurance, excluding occupational accident insurance. Regarding the insurance premium payable during the period of continued insurance, including premium for ordinary insurance and employment insurance, 20% of it shall be borne by the insured person, 10% by the government, and the remaining 70% that was payable by the insured unit shall be subsidized by the government.
b、 Insured persons on unpaid parental leave shall bear their own insurance premium during the continued insurance period. They may apply for deferring the payment by 3 years. Please indicate on the Application form for Insured Persons on Unpaid Parental Leave Wishing to Continue Insurance Coverage whether you wish to defer your payment. If insured persons apply for deferred payment, the Bureau shall issue a personal insurance premium payment slip when the premium is due for payment. Thus, please ensure you make the payment before the deadline.
c、 If insured persons did not apply to defer their payment, the Bureau shall issue a personal insurance premium payment slip in every odd month(January, March, May, July, September, November) for the preceding two months. The insured person shall make the payment before the specified deadline.
d、 Such payment slip shall be sent to the postal address indicated on the Application form for Insured Persons on Unpaid Parental Leave Wishing to Continue Insurance Coverage. If no postal address is specified, the Bureau shall post the slip to the address shown on the insured person's household registration.
- When the insured person resumes employment, the insured unit shall notify the Bureau by completing the Notification Letter for Insured Person Leaving Military Service or Resuming Employment
Insured persons must complete the Notification Letter for Insured Person Leaving Military Service or Resuming Employment and send it to the Bureau for registration, regardless whether they resumed employment in advance or following their unpaid parental leave. Failure to report their resumption of employment and withdraw from insurance, the Bureau shall restore the insured persons' identity as in-service insured person and charge their insured unit the payable insurance premium as of the next day to expiry date of the insured persons' unpaid leave. If the insured person terminates one's labor contract or resigns during unpaid parental leave, the insured person shall complete the Labor Insurance Withdraw Data Sheet and submit it to the Bureau to conduct insurance withdraw procedure.
- Regarding regulations and handling procedure for continuing insurance during unpaid parental leave, please visit the web page "continuing insurance during unpaid parental leave" for enquiries.