More than 25 percent of private firms and government agencies required by law to hire people with disabilities have not done so, Taipei city councilors said at a press conference yesterday.
The Handicapped Protection Law (身心障礙者保護法) requires government bodies and enterprises with more than 50 employees to recruit people with disabilities. Many big enterprises, however, have become the biggest obstacle to the disabled as they would rather pay fines than follow the law, the councilors said.
According to the law, in government bodies and firms with more than 50 employees, disadvantaged employees must make up at least 2 percent of the workforce. Companies with more than 100 employees must hire disadvantaged people as 1 percent of their workforce. Firms or government bodies which fail to follow the requirements need to give the total amount of monthly salary they should have paid to disadvantaged employees to the city government as a fine.
insufficient numbers
Of the 2,466 government bodies and private corporations required to recruit disadvantaged people, more than 25 percent did not hire sufficient numbers of people with disabilities, according to statistics from the Labor Affairs Bureau.
"These big companies refuse to give our handicapped friends a chance to work. They would rather pay fines, or issue credit cards with social groups to boost their charitable image," independent city councilor Ou Yang-lung (歐陽龍) said yesterday.
The top companies on the list of violators were Taipei Fubon Bank, Taishin International Bank, Adecco Company, Chinatrust Commercial Bank, HSBC, Cathay General Hospital, Chunghua Picture Tubes, Ltd., China Airlines, and Asustek Computers. The insufficiency rate at all top five companies exceeded 70 percent.
unpaid fines
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Councilor Chen Huei-min (
"We call on these big companies to take social responsibility. It is helping disadvantaged people more to teach them skills to support themselves rather than just feed them," he added.
According to the bureau's statistics, the total amount of money companies owed to the city government from 1999 to August this year was NT$47 million (US$1.4 million). The fines will go to the Taipei Handicapped Employment Fund.
Ou urged the bureau to publish the list of companies that failed to follow the law and pay their fines every month, and seek cooperation with social groups to find solutions to obstacles facing people with disabilities.
improvement promised
In response, Bureau Chief Secretary Chang Ji-yuh (
According to Bureau Secretary Tsai Shu-chen (
Tsai said the bureau has provided assistance to companies which have recruited disadvantaged employees, such as help designing work environments or job-matching services.
Both employers and the handicapped can visit the bureau's website at www.bola.taipei.gov.tw/Enable for more information.
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