Hospitals to staff up for leave vacancies under new rule

Large hospitals will be required to calculate the average number of workers per job category who took leave over the past three years and hire additional staff to cover those absences — a move by the government to close staffing gaps caused by maternity and parental leave.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare promulgated a partial amendment to the enforcement decree of the Health and Medical Personnel Support Act after it cleared a Cabinet meeting on June 30.

The amendment is designed to create an environment in which health and medical workers can take pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing leave without hesitation, while encouraging hospitals to bring on extra staff.

Under the revised decree, tertiary hospitals — the country's highest-tier medical centers — must calculate the average number of employees per occupational category, including doctors, nurses and medical technicians, who took leave over the past three years and treat that figure as the additional headcount to be deployed. Leave types counted in the calculation include maternity leave, paternity leave, miscarriage leave, stillbirth leave, infertility treatment leave and parental leave.

Other health and medical institutions outside the tertiary hospital category must also make efforts to add staff according to standards set by the minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, taking into account each institution's type, size and operational circumstances.

The recommended staffing standards will take effect in stages beginning Aug. 20.