Controversial amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) yesterday cleared the legislature, with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) apologizing for the inconvenience caused by her administration’s two revisions of the act within a year.
Under the amended act, overtime pay is to remain at least 1.33 times a worker’s normal hourly wage for the first two hours and at least 1.66 times from the third hour onward on weekdays.
The rates are to remain at 2.33 and 2.66 times a worker’s normal rates if they are asked to work on their weekly “flexible” day off.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
However, workers would no longer be paid overtime in blocks of four hours, but by the actual number of hours they work.
Employers are allowed to raise the monthly overtime cap from 46 to 54 hours after gaining the consent of unions or their employees during employer-staff meetings and notifying the local labor authorities, with the proviso that employees must not be allowed to work more than 138 hours in three months.
Employees would also have the option of converting their overtime into compensatory leave, but if they are unable to use the compensatory in an agreed period of time or before their contract expires, their employer would be required to convert it back into an overtime payment.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The amended act stipulates that employees can roll unused annual leave over to the next year and that employers should convert remaining annual leave days into wages at the end of the second year.
Employers would be allowed to move an employee’s fixed weekly day off within a period of 14 days with the prerequisite that they have gained the approval of unions or employees.
Sectors wishing to adopt the measure would need to pass a review by the local authority and be designated by the Ministry of Labor as a sector that qualifies.
The aforementioned provisos also apply to an amendment that allows employers in approved sectors to shorten the rest time between shifts from 11 to eight hours.
The amendments are to take effect on March 1.
Following the bill being passed at 8:44am, Tsai issued a formal apology to the public for the social unrest caused by the second amendment to the act in a year.
While Premier William Lai (賴清德) has already apologized, Tsai said she felt she owed the public an apology as the head of her administration.
Tsai also thanked police for their hard work due to the protests the amendment provoked.
The controversy surrounding the bill, while causing some turmoil, nonetheless shows that Taiwan is a society willing to accommodate a plurality of opinions, she said.
The act would benefit employers and employees alike, and offer a substantial foundation for industrial transition, she said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators apologized to workers nationwide over their failure to block the bill.
“We would like to apologize to more than 9 million workers nationwide. Despite our greatest efforts, we were unable to stop the Labor Standards Act from being sabotaged,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said.
“We could only do so much, but we truly hope that we can return to power in this year’s local elections and achieve what the central government could not,” KMT Legislator Chen Yi-ming said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS