An effective labor law
The “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” change to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) remains contentious to this day.
When the Democratic Progressive Party came to power, it decided to abolish seven national holidays and push the fixed day/flexible day system, causing uproar.
The act did not come into force until Jan. 1, but complaints started pouring in the minute it was announced.
Employers said the changes would increase operating costs, workers could not see any benefit for themselves, prices rose and the blame was placed at the feet of the new system.
Even US employers in Taiwan expressed concerns the system would scare off international talent.
The policy was clearly a no-win situation for employers, workers, the government and the entire populace.
Tomorrow, the system is to enter an evaluation period, in which there is unlikely to be a consensus on what needs to be done.
Some local governments will say it needs to be tweaked; some will say it should be postponed until the central government can introduce new measures; some will think they should introduce their own legislation.
Even the Ministry of Labor has said that if any violations of the law occur, then local governments can ask for amendments to be made.
This heavily suggests that the policy as it stands is incomplete, which is why there have been unprecedented calls for the law to be amended.
The Anglo-American philosopher Thomas Paine believed that the less a government interferes in peoples’ lives, the better. The government’s amendment here is just the sort of meddling Paine would have disapproved of.
The amendment to the law was an attempt by the DPP to curry favor with workers. The reopening of regulations concerning payment of overtime and holidays — which had been in place for years and were not disputed anyway — only served to increase operating costs and create a logistical headache for businesses.
Businesses are opposed to it while workers do not appreciate it — the changes to the law should therefore be reversed.
Every year, the government announces public holiday dates for the following year, which apply to shift workers and nine-to-five office workers alike.
It would be much fairer — and take into account the particular needs of the manufacturing and service industries — if workers and management were free to negotiate and agree holiday arrangements amongst themselves and then register the agreement with the authorities.
As for workers who are unable to use up all of their annual holiday within the alloted time, the government could set a minimum standard of compensation to guarantee employees’ rights.
The authorities could also inspect leave agreements for violations of labor laws and investigate the veracity of information provided by whistle-blowers, with harsh fines for any transgressions. Non-conforming managers would not have a leg to stand on.
Lee Ming-liang
Taipei
A series of strong earthquakes in Hualien County not only caused severe damage in Taiwan, but also revealed that China’s power has permeated everywhere. A Taiwanese woman posted on the Internet that she found clips of the earthquake — which were recorded by the security camera in her home — on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. It is spine-chilling that the problem might be because the security camera was manufactured in China. China has widely collected information, infringed upon public privacy and raised information security threats through various social media platforms, as well as telecommunication and security equipment. Several former TikTok employees revealed
For the incoming Administration of President-elect William Lai (賴清德), successfully deterring a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attack or invasion of democratic Taiwan over his four-year term would be a clear victory. But it could also be a curse, because during those four years the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will grow far stronger. As such, increased vigilance in Washington and Taipei will be needed to ensure that already multiplying CCP threat trends don’t overwhelm Taiwan, the United States, and their democratic allies. One CCP attempt to overwhelm was announced on April 19, 2024, namely that the PLA had erred in combining major missions
At the same time as more than 30 military aircraft were detected near Taiwan — one of the highest daily incursions this year — with some flying as close as 37 nautical miles (69kms) from the northern city of Keelung, China announced a limited and selected relaxation of restrictions on Taiwanese agricultural exports and tourism, upon receiving a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation led by KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁). This demonstrates the two-faced gimmick of China’s “united front” strategy. Despite the strongest earthquake to hit the nation in 25 years striking Hualien on April 3, which caused
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday last week held a debate over the constitutionality of the death penalty. The issue of the retention or abolition of the death penalty often involves the conceptual aspects of social values and even religious philosophies. As it is written in The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, the government’s policy is often a choice between the lesser of two evils or the greater of two goods, and it is impossible to be perfect. Today’s controversy over the retention or abolition of the death penalty can be viewed in the same way. UNACCEPTABLE Viewing the