Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) chief Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) told a legislative session yesterday that bonuses for employees of state-owned businesses had already been distributed, despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) comment during an interview with FTV on Tuesday that he would ask the ministry to determine whether such bonuses should be held off given the state of the economy.
During the interview, Ma said he had reminded the ministry to take public opinion into account.
At a legislative session yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) asked Yiin whether the bonuses had been handed out.
“Yes, they have been distributed,” Yiin said.
Lee said he suspected Ma — and therefore the public — had been misled.
“I have not misled anyone,” Yiin said.
He said that he had discussed the matter with the president by telephone the previous day and that the ministry’s state-owned Enterprise Commission would evaluate regulations on the distribution of bonuses and make amendments within two months.
Yiin said the commission would amend the regulations according to “public opinion.”
“We will amend it, with the president’s concerns in mind,” he said.
Yiin said bonuses for employees of state-owned businesses were either performance-based or profit-based. While the former must be approved by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission — with a final decision the following May — the latter requires the approval of the Ministry of Audit.
In other words, “it’s impossible to get this year’s bonus this year,” he said.
Asked if he would consider retracting the bonuses distributed so far this year, Yiin said there were no laws to justify such action. He said doing so would also have repercussions on employees’ tax filings and make matters more difficult.
In related news, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday urged Ma and government heads to donate their year-end bonuses to charity.
“In my view, the president is sending a blessing in disguise,” deputy DPP caucus whip Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) told a press conference at the DPP caucus office yesterday morning, in reference to Ma’s comments about the bonuses for employees of state-owned enterprises.
Pan said a total of NT$78.9 million (US$2 million) in year-end bonuses was expected to be issued to Ma and his Cabinet.
As state-owned companies have already issued year-end bonuses, Ma and government heads should give theirs to charity, he said.
“They do not deserve the bonuses, because they have made people suffer with their mishandling of the economy. In other words, they didn’t do a good job,” Pan said.
The Presidential Office yesterday was mum on whether Ma should take the lead in donating the year-end bonuses, saying that former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) year-end bonuses were larger than Ma’s.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the timing was not right to discuss the matter.
Wang said that civil servants were likely to get 1.5 months for their year-end bonuses, adding that Ma would not get that much because he did not come into office until May 20.
Wang said Ma’s bonus was expected to be NT$462,300 rather than NT$690,000 as some have suggested, while Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) would receive NT$340,000 rather than NT$520,000.
Chen, on the other hand, is expected to receive NT$507,000, Wang said.
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) told reporters that asking politically appointed officials to renounce their year-end bonus was one among the many options recently proposed to the Cabinet.
He said he needed to consult other agencies before making a decision.
Regarding the year-end bonus for employees of state-owned enterprises, Liu said that revising the system required more deliberation as awarding bonuses was a longstanding practice.
In related developments, Central Personnel Administration (CPA) Minister Chen Ching-hsiu (陳清秀) said the administration decided on Monday that military personnel, teachers and public servants on government payroll would receive 1.5 months’ salary as their year-end bonus.
The amount of the bonus was in line with spending earmarked for the purpose, which was written last year in this year’s government budget statement and was already approved by the legislature.
Chen Ching-hsiu said the suggestion was still pending Liu’s approval.
The year-end bonus will be sent to about the 900,000 government employees on Jan. 16, 10 days prior to Lunar New Year, Chen Ching-hsiu said.
Meanwhile, Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) said on Tuesday night that following requests by the business sector to the bank association, banks would extend their closing time from 3:30pm to 5:30pm from Jan. 19 to Jan. 23.
Chiu said businesses made the request so they could make the necessary allocation of funds before banks close for the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday.
Also yesterday, Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said that a plan submitted by the Bureau of National Health Insurance to give bureau employees a year-end bonus equal to 3.8 months of salary had been rejected.
At a Legislative Yuan committee meeting, Yeh said he had given the bureau two weeks to come up with a new plan.
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