Eleven food and food delivery companies have agreed not to ask their couriers to work on days when work is canceled due to typhoons or other natural disasters, the Ministry of Labor said on Friday.
Foodpanda, Uber Eats, Lalamove, Foodomo, Deliveroo, YoWoo Food Delivery, McDonald’s Taiwan, Pizza Hut, KFC, Napoli Pizza and Domino’s Pizza agreed to the safety guidelines, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that it also urged companies to take all steps possible to ensure the safety of their delivery staff, such as providing them with high-visibility vests and helmets, as well as giving them safety training.
Some companies engage independent contractors — not employees — to deliver food, which some have said falls outside the scope of safety and health regulations, but companies must comply with the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), Occupational Safety Division head Lee Wen-chin (李文進) said.
According to Article 51 of the act, individuals engaged in work directed by a company supervisor are covered as much by safety and health regulations as the company’s own employees, Lee said.
Companies face a maximum fine of NT$300,000 for occupational injuries resulting from a breach of the regulations, he said.
Non-legally binding guidelines for the safety of food couriers would be introduced soon and would likely include a clause that they are not required to work on typhoon days off to reduce the number of traffic accidents involving delivery staff, the ministry said.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we