An amendment capping weekly work hours at 40 passed the legislature yesterday.
The amendment of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) cleared to the cheers of lawmakers across party lines, who hailed it as “a victory for workers.”
The act stipulates that a worker is not to work more than eight hours a day or 84 hours every two weeks.
Starting from next year, workers will be under no obligation to work for more than 40 hours per week or eight hours per day, according to the amendment, which is regarded as the legal foundation for workers to get two days off per week.
There was also a revision that allows more flexibility to start and finish times. For employees starting or finishing within an hour of the scheduled times and where there is no change to the regular working hours, arrangements can be made depending on a worker’s needs or the needs of family members.
“Flexibility is conducive to a more friendly working environment and the enhancement of female workers’ participation in the workforce, as mothers could leave work earlier to take care of their children,” said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏), who proposed to include the clause in the amendment.
Taiwan has the third-highest legal working hours per year in the world, 2,124 hours, according to a report by the Ministry of Labor, higher than the average among developed countries, which all have yearly working hours limited to fewer than 2,000, KMT Legislator Chiang Hui-chen (江惠貞) said.
“We hope that with the legislation, we can shed the stigma of being an overworked island,” Chiang said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said the 40-Hour Week Convention was passed by the International Labour Organization as early as 1935 and has been followed for years by countries such as the US, Japan and South Korea.
“What we have done today is give workers what they deserve,” Chao said.
Ministry of Labor official Liu Chuan-min (劉傳名) said after the third reading of the amendment: “We hope that supporting measures and other revisions can also be established, and that continued communication with workers and enterprise representatives will be carried out to make sure that they adjust to the changes.”
“We also hope that the legislature could soon review other amendment proposals made by the Executive Yuan to support the 40-hour cap,” Liu added.
These include an increase of the monthly limit for overtime from 46 to 54 hours, Liu said.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS