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Council makes review of minimum wage a priority

The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) has made reviewing the country's minimum wage one of its priority tasks for the current fiscal year, CLA Vice Chairman Kuo Fang-yu (郭芳煜) said yesterday.

When CLA Chairman Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) delivers a report on the council's work agenda to the Legislative Yuan today, Kuo said, he will assure lawmakers that the council will tackle the minimum wage issue with a new vision and new thinking.

As the country's minimum wage has been frozen at NT$15,840 per month -- which translates into NT$528 per day or NT$66 per hour -- for 10 years, Kuo said it's time to make an overall review and consider the feasibility of an adjustment.

Kuo said the minimum hourly wage now in effect was especially unreasonable.

"While the legal work week has been cut to 84 hours for two weeks from 90 hours since 2001, the minimum hourly wage is still based on the previous eight-hour work day formula, " he said, adding that the present hourly wage rate fails to reflect the shortened work week for wage earners.

Against this backdrop, Kuo said, the present basic wage rate requires a review.

To ensure fair treatment for hourly wage earners, he said, future adjustments should also take into account the stipulation in the Labor Standards Law (勞基法) that wage earners are entitled to paid regular days off and national holidays.

Nevertheless, Kuo said, the council has yet to reach a decision on whether to adjust the basic wage rate and by how much.

Kuo said that Lee will hold talks with labor union leaders in the coming weeks to exchange views on relevant issues.

After those sessions, the CLA's wage screening committee will meet to discuss the feasibility of an upward adjustment and the most reasonable wage range, he said.

Commenting on the minimum wage adjustment proposal, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-hsiang (施顏祥) said the business community was reserved about such a move.

"The CLA will have to communicate with business and industry executives to seek their support if it insists on going ahead with the plan," Shih said, adding that the Ministry of Economic Affairs is evaluating the possible impact on local industries of an upward minimum wage adjustment.

The ministry will also study what the adjustment range should be to minimize its possible adverse impact on local industries' export competitiveness, Shih said.
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