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.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
RSS