Taiwan – Gender & women’s rights
III. The State duty to protect human rights
C. Actions planned
- Continue pushing for passage of laws to protect working conditions and labor rights (pages 9-10)
‘[…] we intend to pursue a number of strategies aimed at boosting women’s economic empowerment. These include promotion of women’s entrepreneurship (and employment), creation of gender-equal workplaces, promotion of flexible working hours and locations, encouragement of re-entry into the job market, and prevention of early withdrawal from the workforce.’
This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, The state duty to protect, UNGP2, Actions planned (page 40).
IV. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights
B. Actions taken
- Greater information transparency (page 13)
‘[…] in response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), our government has set up a number of corporate excellence awards to recognize strong performance in such areas as transparency and business ethics, gender equality, and talent development. The purpose is to get companies to strengthen disclosure of non-financial information and implement human rights policies.’
C. Actions planned
- Advocate for disclosure of non-financial information (pages 14-15)
In addition to studying the feasibility of expanding the range of businesses subject to a compulsory requirement to prepare CSR reports, the Taiwan government will also advocate for disclosure by businesses of non-financial information (related issues will include important environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics — such as […] gender equality […] — all of which are matters of concern to stakeholders). The goal of such a policy would be to ensure that businesses understand that the disclosure of non-financial information can make up for the shortcomings of financial information, thus enabling businesses to effectively identify and manage risks. This would facilitate the formulation of better business policies, and contribute to the achievement of forward-looking objectives, thus enabling the adoption of sustainable business practices.
This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, UNGP3, Actions planned (page 43).
V. Access to remedy
B. Actions taken
- Non-judicial remedy (page 18)
‘The Taiwan government encourages members of the public to make use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes (e.g. grievance, conciliation, mediation, and arbitration procedures that are provided to the public by courts, government agencies, and private groups) to achieve the earliest possible resolution of disputes involving many different matters, including […] gender equality […].’
This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, Access to remedy, UNGP27, Actions taken (page 57).
Grievance system for employment discrimination (page 19)
‘The labor competent authorities in local governments throughout Taiwan have already established employment discrimination grievance channels to deal with instances of employment discrimination involving gender […]. Accordingly, employees or job seekers who discover law-breaking behavior on the part of an employer can file a grievance via any of the [channels mentioned in this NAP].’
This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, Access to remedy UNGP30, Actions taken (page 59).
Appendix 1: Concrete actions taken by Taiwan to fulfill the state obligation to protect
- Taiwan’s commitment to human rights and international participation (page 23)
‘The “Enforcement Act of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women” came into force on 1 January 2012. This convention promotes fairer gender standards in Taiwan with the aim of achieving gender equality.’
- Government procurement (page 24)
‘Article 101, paragraph 1, subparagraph 14 of the “Government Procurement Act” provides that where the supplier discriminates on the basis of gender […], where the details of the discrimination are particularly serious, it will be published in the Government Procurement Gazette and the supplier shall not be allowed to bid on a government contract (or be a sub-contractor) for one year.’
- Other legislative action and measures (page 29)
‘To promote gender equality in the workplace, Chapter II of the “Act of Gender Equality in Employment” expressly prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of gender or sexual orientation, and Chapter III of the same Act states that employers are obliged to prevent sexual harassment, and requires employers of a certain size to establish measures for preventing and correcting sexual harassment, complaint procedures, and disciplinary measures, and to openly display these measures in the workplace.’