The Cabinet is to announce a draft amendment today at the earliest to change several amendments that were made last year to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), and is expected to submit it to the Legislative Yuan next month.
“The Ministry of Labor will put forward the [draft] amendment within a day or two,” Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said yesterday, without revealing its details.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) reported that the draft amendment would lift a rule that requires at least one mandatory day off every week, lower the required amount of overtime pay and enact a flexible overtime system, but Hsu said what had been reported is a revision proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus and is not the ministry’s draft amendment.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) will review the draft amendment today at the earliest, which will be negotiated with DPP lawmakers before the ministry formally announces the draft, the Cabinet said.
The controversial five-day workweek policy, promulgated in December last year, stipulates a fixed day off and a flexible rest day, while employees, if asked to work on rest days, are to be given four hours of pay for between one and four hours of work, and eight hours of pay for between five and eight hours of work.
The policy has drawn criticism from employers, employees and labor rights groups, and Lai pledged to revise the policy when he took office on Sept. 5.
According to the report, a revision agreed upon by the Executive Yuan, the DPP caucus and the ministry would allow employers to pay overtime based on the actual number of hours worked on rest days, which is in line with a draft amendment proposed in May by 21 DPP lawmakers led by DPP Legislator Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純).
The revision would also raise the cap on total overtime hours from 46 hours to 54 hours per month, or alternatively to a maximum of 138 hours in a three-month period, provided that employers and employees reach an agreement on the cap raise.
The proposed cap raise is also in line with the DPP lawmakers’ May proposal.
The draft amendment would also scrap the rule that requires a mandatory day off every week.
The revision would shorten the minimum rest time between shifts for some industries such as the transportation and medical sectors.
The act stipulates that a person must be allowed a rest period of at least 11 hours between shifts, but the rest-time clause has not been enacted since the act’s promulgation.
The draft amendment plans to lower the rest period to eight hours provided that employers and employees can reach an agreement.
The revision also plans to allow a one-year extension of annual leave, according to the report.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he