The Ministry of Labor is considering create a hotline through which the public could report workplace bullying after setting up a dedicated complaint channel for its own agencies, Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said on Wednesday at the legislature.
Hung was reporting on plans to set up complaint channels internally and to prevent workplace bullying in the private sector amid an ongoing controversy over a Ministry of Labor head allegedly driving an employee to commit suicide last month.
The ministry is also assessing the feasibility of creating a hotline for filing complaints and providing counseling regarding workplace bullying that would be available to the public, he said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The ministry launched an internal initiative following the incident, offering a “dedicated” complaint channel for its employees, Hung said, adding that it would continue to improve existing complaint filing mechanisms to make them more comprehensive.
The ministry would also create a complaint review committee to handle grievances from its employees, and would better educate staff on what to do should they be subject to workplace bullying and the resources that are available to help them, he said.
The recent attention to bullying was driven by the death of a 39-year-old Workforce Development Agency employee, surnamed Wu (吳), who allegedly committed suicide.
His suicide was allegedly related to bullying by branch head Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who subsequently received two major demerits in a performance review, prompting her dismissal from office.
At a news conference on Nov. 19, the ministry said its investigation found that Hsieh’s “management style and control over her emotions” had a role in Wu’s death, but that they were “not the direct cause.”
Hung at a hearing on Wednesday acknowledged that the results of the investigation conducted by the ministry were inconclusive and sparked widespread controversy.
The ministry has launched a new investigation into the incident and would brief the public once it is completed, Hung said.
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