During a live webcast on the Executive Yuan's "Open Mic" YouTube channel today, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun discussed government protection of labor rights and interests with Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen.
Minister Chen noted that ROC workers work an average of 2,124 hours per year, less than their counterparts in Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong but more than workers in Japan and Europe. This reflects ROC workers' diligence as well as their toil, he said.
The government has discussed the issue of working hours for a long time, Chen remarked. The Executive Yuan has already amended related provisions to reduce regular working hours from 84 hours in two weeks to 40 hours per week and guarantee workers two days off per week. The administration hopes the Legislature will pass these amendments by the end of this year's legislative session so the government can implement this new law expediently on January 1, 2016.
Minister Chen also stated that although most nations have not raised wages in recent years because of the world economic recession, the ROC has raised its basic wage five times since President Ma Ying-jeou took office. That includes the pending July 1 increase of the basic monthly salary to NT$20,008 (US$643) and of the basic hourly wage from NT$115 to NT$120 (US$3.69 to US$3.85). During President Ma's tenure, the basic monthly salary has increased by nearly 16 percent and the basic hourly wage by more than 26 percent in total.
Recently the Legislature has approved an amendment to the Company Act to stipulate that a company earning a profit must reward its workers with a certain proportion of that profit. The minister hopes this provision will be implemented as soon as possible to help raise workers' incomes.
As for netizens' concern about responsibility-oriented jobs, Minister Chen stated that according to Article 84-1 of the Labor Standards Act (LSA), this mechanism can only be applied to certain occupations specified by the government, such as private-sector security personnel, pilots and crew, and real-estate agents. To resolve issues arising from businesses imposing the clause on employees, the minister stated that his ministry has added 325 labor inspectors to enhance scrutiny of the situation.
If employers make inappropriate demands, workers can file appeals to the Ministry of Labor, Chen noted. Employers' demands for employees to work overtime must be approved by worker-employer meeting and receive the consent of the employees who would work overtime. Furthermore, to prevent overwork the LSA has regulations on the number of overtime hours permitted.
Minister Chen noted that most businesses do not require many overtime hours, as only certain businesses such as electronics manufacturers need to work round-the-clock to meet deadlines after receiving massive orders. Overtime hours will comprise a major inspection item in the future, the minister pledged.
Regarding the protection of labor compensation claims when a factory is closed down, Chen clarified that according to the amended Article 28 of the LSA, when an employer fails to disburse pension and severance pay the government will undertake subrogation. Moreover, the Arrear Wage Payment Fund will distribute six months of pension and severance pay to the workers. The revision also granted workers' compensation claims with equal creditor's rights to banks' mortgage claims.
Another long-standing issue is businesses underreporting their workers' wages in order to make lower payments into the labor insurance system, influencing the system's financial health. In cooperation with other agencies, the MOL will use big-data analysis to compare the insured wage rates reported by companies with data from the Ministry of Finance's taxation information system in order to catch underreporting companies and force them to make corrections.
The webcast, titled "The government is on your side! Discussing protection of workers' rights and interests," was broadcast live on the Executive Yuan's "Open Mic" YouTube channel from 7 to 8 p.m. tonight. It aimed to explain protection of workers' rights and interests and help the public understand related government policies.
The program concluded at 8:15 p.m. It attracted 308 viewers at its peak. Viewers left 1,213 messages and 1,948 hits, and 1,080 parallel streams were opened. The average viewer watched the program for more than 12 minutes.
For more information, please watch the Chinese-language webcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83x5Lx2koww