The Council of Labor Affairs is coming under criticism again after a co-op student came forward to tell her story of worker exploitation yesterday.
A student surnamed Chen (陳) recently completed her food and hospitality training at a private vocational school and found an internship at an Italian restaurant in Taoyuan through the Ministry of Education’s Cooperative Education Program.
Chen told a press conference that she was taken advantage of by her employer, who paid her only NT$300 for 12 days of work because the restaurant owner claimed she had been absent without obtaining approval from the restaurant.
Aside from not getting paid the NT$6,580 Chen said she was owed, the student said she also had to put up with verbal abuse from her employer.
“[My employer] would say that I moved at a turtle’s pace,” she said. “I interned there to learn, but my employer refused to teach me anything.”
Chen said that even when she sought out her school to report the matter, her school did nothing.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英), who was at Chen’s side during the press conference, said unscrupulous businesses were taking advantage of the co-op program and using it to recruit students as cheap labor.
Huang said that to participate in the co-op program, parents must sign an agreement that contains “unreasonable terms and conditions,” such as an absence of overtime pay because businesses claim they must spend time and energy teaching the co-op students.
Similar claims of abuse have been made over the years.
Two months ago, the council confirmed that Young Fast Optical Inc illegally employed students under the age of 16 to work overtime with little pay.
Recently, a man in Taipei County claimed a hair salon forced his daughter to work more than 300 hours a month for only the minimum monthly wage of NT$17,280, which amounted to little over NT$55 an hour.
Youth Labor Union 95 member Hu Meng-yu (胡孟瑀) called on the council and the Ministry of Education to conduct a comprehensive series of inspections on employers and schools participating in the co-op program, as well as the establishment of an investigation committee and strict rules to prohibit violators from participating in future co-op programs.
In response, the council said the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) contains regulations that protect co-op students, even though they are not laborers. Those who violate the regulations, such as demanding unreasonable work hours and refusing to provide compensation for work-related injuries, will face fines from the council, it said.
The council also said it would look into Chen’s case and issue fines if the allegations are confirmed.
Currently, about 35,000 students participate in the program.
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