EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) was fined NT$60,000 (US$1,945) for failing to protect its employees from physical and mental harm caused by others during the execution of their duty after a passenger asked its flight attendants to remove his underpants and wipe his behind before and after using the toilet during a flight from Los Angeles to Taipei last month.
The incident on Jan. 19 involved a passenger who demanded that flight attendants assist him because he had a right-hand injury, EVA Air Union said.
The Office of Labor Inspection conducted an inspection of EVA Air on Jan. 22 after a flight attendant appeared traumatized by the incident at a news conference the day before.
The office concluded that the airline contravened the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法) and Regulations Governing the Installation of Occupational Safety and Health Facilities (職業安全衛生設施規則) when it failed to implement preventive measures to safeguard cabin crew members from harm.
“We hope the airline will quickly address the problem, support the flight attendant affected by the incident and allow her to take work-related sick leave,” the union said.
The ruling said that employers should improve on-duty protection for employees so that they are not humiliated by passengers’ excessive demands, the union said, adding that it has prompted the public to question a work culture that says the customer is always right and to consider where service personnel should draw the line when attending to customer.
The union plans to discuss the incident with company management at a meeting next month, it added.
The flight attendant returned to work after taking three weeks of sick leave on her doctor’s orders.
The airline had said it was waiting for a reply from the Bureau of Labor Insurance before granting the flight attendant work-related sick leave.
The Ministry of Labor had said that employers can grant workers work-related sick leave as long as the worker can provide medical proof, adding that the ministry’s occupational safety and health centers could assist employers and workers to assess what constitutes work-related sick leave.
The Act for Protecting Workers from Occupational Accidents (職災勞工保護法) stipulates that employers can first grant workers regular sick leave, then change the reason for the leave of absence and reimburse workers for lost wages after they meet the criteria for work-related sick leave.
The flight attendant would only receive half of her monthly salary if she applied for regular sick leave, but would receive her full salary for work-related sick leave, according to the Regulations of Leave-Taking of Workers (勞工請假規則).
The Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) stipulates that employers refusing to grant workers work-related sick leave could face a fine of between NT$20,000 and NT$1 million.
EVA Air said in a statement that it has started to make improvements, as requested by the Taoyuan Department of Labor.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS