About 56 percent of employees in Taiwan feel that their lives have been affected by work rules implemented in December last year, according to the results of a survey released yesterday.
More than 78 percent of the 1,000 workers polled in the survey, which was jointly conducted by 1111 Job Bank and weekly newspaper Business Today, said that the rules have increased tensions between them and their employers.
The regulations reduced the maximum number of work hours from 84 hours over two weeks to 40 hours per week, with one mandatory day off and one “flexible rest day” each week.
Employers are now required to pay overtime to people who work on their flexible day off, but many employers and employees have said that the rules leave less leeway for a flexible work schedule, even if both sides agree with the arrangement.
The survey found that 45 percent of the respondents were unhappy that their incomes have dropped, which the job bank attributed to a reduction in work hours.
The job bank said that because of the requirement for higher overtime pay, some employers have been hiring temporary workers to cut costs, meaning that employees are paid less.
About 35 percent of respondents said they have had to find part-time jobs in a bid to make ends meet.
However, the rules have also delivered some positive results, with 19.6 percent of respondents saying that due to the reduced work hours they have more leisure time and have increased their consumption, with 12.2 percent saying that their quality of life has improved.
If tension over the rules persists, mutual trust between employers and employees could be undermined in the long term, 1111 Job Bank vice president Daniel Lee (李大華) said.
The nation’s industries have varied needs, which the rigid rules fail to meet, Lee said.
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