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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