The “Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women” has been revised for the third time, and will be effective on Jan. 1, 2023
The “Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women” is implemented in 1992, and revised in 2005 and 2018, recently, the third amendment (hereinafter referred to as the ” 2022 Version “) was adopted on Oct. 30, 2022, and will come into force on Jan. 1, 2023.
The following is a brief introduction of the clauses which are very important in enterprises’ daily management.
- Regarding sexual harassment
Article 1010 of the “Civil Code” stipulates that, “Where a person conducts sexual harassment of another person in the forms of verbal remarks, written language, images, physical behaviors or otherwise against the will of another person, the victim has the right to request the person to bear civil liability according to the law. Agencies, enterprises, schools, etc. shall adopt reasonable measures on prevention, acceptance and handling of complaints, investigation, and disposal, etc. to prevent and curb sexual harassment by making use of official powers and affiliation, etc.” Article 23 of 2022 Version links with the above provision, in addition, Article 24 and 25 have further stipulated the requirements for enterprises’ system regarding the prevention and handling mechanism of sexual harassment.
Among these articles, Article 25 stipulates that, “Employers shall take the following measures to prevent and stop sexual harassment against women: (I) formulating rules and regulations prohibiting sexual harassment; (II) specifying the responsible department or personnel; (III) carrying out education and training activities on prevention and stopping sexual harassment; (IV) taking necessary security and safeguard measures; (V) setting up complaint telephone, mailbox, etc. and unblocking complaint channels; (VI) establishing and improving investigation and handling procedures, timely handling disputes and protecting the privacy and personal information of the parties concerned; (VII) supporting and assisting female victims in defending their rights according to law and providing psychological counseling to female victims when necessary; and (VIII) other reasonable measures to prevent and stop sexual harassment.”
Therefore, enterprises should establish a sexual harassment prevention and handling mechanism which should meets the above requirements in a timely manner.
- Regarding the specific health examination for female employees
Article 31 stipulates that, “…Employers shall regularly arrange gynecological and breast examinations and other health examinations specially required by women for their female employees.”
- 3. Regarding women’s employment
Firstly, Article 43 stipulates that, “Unless it is otherwise prescribed by the country, an employer may not commit any of the following acts in the course of recruitment (appointment): (I) restricting candidates to be male or stipulating that male priority is given; (II) further inquiring of or investigating the marital and child-bearing information of the female job seekers in addition to the basic personal information; (III) taking the pregnancy test as one of the items of physical examination for on-boarding; (IV) taking the restriction from marriage, childbearing or the marital or child-bearing status as the requirement for recruitment (appointment); or (V) other acts of refusing to recruit (employ) women by virtue of gender or differentially increasing the standards for recruiting (employing) women.” Therefore, enterprises should avoid to list the above prohibitions when publishing recruitment notices, including internal recruitment.
Secondly, Article 44 stipulates that, (1) the agreement signed with female employees shall include special provisions to protect female employees; and (2) the collective contract shall include such contents as equality between men and women and protection of the rights and interests of female employees, or special chapters or appendices may be formulated or a special collective contract for the protection of the rights and interests of female employees may separately be concluded. Therefore, enterprises need to review existing contracts or rules and regulations to ensure that the above requirements are included.
Thirdly, for female employees during their pregnancy, maternity leave and breast-feeding period, employers should not reduce their wages and welfare benefits, Article 48 further stipulates that employers should not restrict their promotion in post or in rank, evaluation of professional and technical titles and positions. In addition, Article 49 further stipulates that the human resources and social security authorities shall incorporate the act of gender discrimination into the scope of labor security supervision.