Several trade unions have pledged to lobby for better legal accountability for employers regarding work-related injuries.
New legislation is required to impose monetary damages on companies when their negligence leads to major workplace accidents, the Taiwan Association for Victims of Occupational Injuries said at a news conference on Thursday.
The amount imposed should be relative to company revenue, and executives should be subject to criminal sanction if injuries experienced by workers can be attributed to policies or orders, it said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法) and other laws have been used to penalize supervisors of injured workers, but generally those employees have no say in the policies that are often cause the injuries, association executive officer Liu Nien-yun (劉念雲) said.
“Bosses often escape responsibility,” she said in her call for legal reform.
Liu said that the lobbying effort was initiated by the association and has received backing from the Taiwan Railway Union and Taiwan International Workers Association, among others. Representatives of the groups attended the news conference to express their support.
The association plans to consult with trade unions across the country for their input into legal proposals, although it does not have a deadline.
It hopes the government takes the proposals seriously and incorporate them into law, Liu said.
The unions said that they doubt a new law set to take effect tomorrow would offer adequate protection to injured workers or better prevent workplace accidents.
The Labor Occupational Hazard Insurance and Protection Act (勞工職業災害保險及保護法) is to replace the Act for Protecting Workers from Occupational Accidents (職災勞工保護法) and other occupational insurance regulations.
The government has said the new law compels most companies, regardless of size, to hold insurance against liability for employee injury.
However, the groups said that the required insurance is minimal, even for those with poor records of work-related injuries.
Being able to inexpensively transfer liability for workplace incidents to the insurer — the Bureau of Labor Insurance — companies would have no incentive to prioritize employee health and safety, the association said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS