The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) yesterday said it has drafted revisions to labor regulations that would impose harsher penalties on employers who demand excessive over-time from employees as well as publicize the names of businesses that violate labor regulations.
The council completed a draft amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) following a series of widely reported confirmed and suspected cases of sudden death after employees worked excessively long hours, and amid widespread resentment against perceived government inaction on death from overwork.
The council said the revisions aim to increase the fines to NT$200,000 for businesses that abuse “the system of job responsibility” and ignore the health of their employees.
In its present form, the law stipulates a maximum fine of NT$60,000 for employers who abuse the system.
Critics have asked how an employee’s health could be worth so little, especially in light of the -recent deaths blamed on overwork.
The council said that in addition to raising the fines for businesses that exploit their employees, the council also hopes to put businesses’ reputations on the line by adding a clause in the act that would publicize the names of businesses that overwork their employees.
Once an employer has been found guilty of labor violations, such as demanding excessive overtime, failing to pay salaries or overtime pay, inadequately compensating occupational injury and other instances of exploitation, the names of the company and president would be publicized on the council’s Web site, it said.
The council plans to send the draft of the planned revision to the Executive Yuan for approval after a council meeting scheduled for today. If the Executive Yuan approves it, it still has to be passed by the Legislative Yuan before it can take effect, which may happen as early as the second half of next year.
Council officials said that by raising the maximum fines on labor regulation violators, the council hopes to quell public anger on the issue, better protect labor rights and deter employers from working employees to death.
The latest council statistics show the average Taiwanese worker put in 2,156 hours on the job in 2008, or about 41 hours per week, which is about 20 percent more than workers in Japan and 50 percent more than those in Germany.
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