The Legislative Yuan today passed a bill clearly defining workplace bullying and stipulating preventive and response measures, with offenders facing fines up to NT$1 million (US$31,804).
The legislature passed the third reading of the amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), adding a new section dedicated to preventing workplace bullying.
The legislation defines workplace bullying as when an employee uses their position or power to go beyond what is necessary for work and repeatedly engages in offensive, threatening, dismissive, isolating, insulting or inappropriate conduct that harms another worker’s physical or mental health.
Photo: Taipei Times
If the situation is severe, it need not be repetitive to qualify as workplace bullying, the bill says.
The legislation also stipulates that employers must take necessary measures to prevent workplace bullying, including reporting all complaints via the competent authority’s Web site to prevent selective reporting.
If an employer knows an employee has been bullied, but fails to assist or investigate, they may be fined between NT$30,000 and NT$750,000, the amendment says.
If a top executive is guilty of workplace bullying, they may be fined from NT$10,000 to NT$1 million.
Investigations into workplace bullying must be objective, impartial and fair, and organizations above a certain size must form an investigation committee with at least half its members from outside the organization, the bill says.
If an employee is filing a complaint against the top executive, they may file it directly with the local government, it says.
The amendment also increases criminal penalties, fines and administrative penalties for offenders.
For incidents that lead to fatalities, it raises the maximum prison term from three to five years and the maximum fine to NT$1.5 million.
It also raises the maximum administrative fine to NT$750,000.
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