The Taipei Japanese School was fined for $8,315 after refusing to grant maternity leave to two female teachers of the school, the Taipei City Government's Department of Labor announced yesterday.

According to Department of Labor Commissioner Chen Yeh-shin, his department received complaints this April from the two teachers in question.

The school authorities fired one of the teachers and signed a new contact with another one as a part-time employee instead of a full-time one after the two filed for maternity leave after giving birth earlier this year, Chen said

The school authorities claimed that the decision was made because the two were found performing poorly in teaching. But the school cannot give concrete evidence to support its claim, he said.

Investigations also showed that the school even said that there is no parental leave without pay system in Taiwan, therefore refusing to grant the two's applications, Chen said.

The move has seriously violated the Gender Equality in Employment Act, so the school was fined NT$200,000, he said.