Employers could face fines of up to NT$100,000 if found guilty of discouraging female employees from taking sick leave for menstrual pain through administrative procedures, the Council of Labor Affairs said yesterday.
Female employees are entitled to take one sick day off per month for menstrual pain or discomfort under current labor laws, which do not require workers to provide supporting documents or fill in administrative forms the same day.
The clarification comes in the wake of a complaint made by a flight attendant who said that her colleagues were often discouraged from taking the days off and that they were administratively disciplined and blacklisted when they failed to present medical documentation the same day.
Photo: CNA
The flight attendant, who wished to remain anonymous over fears of reprisal, saw her case taken up by a legislator yesterday who called the procedures “unbelievable” and “a serious violation of the law.”
“The relevant procedures show that the business clearly and purposefully created difficulties for its employees by asking them to visit a specified hospital to receive medical documentation and hand it to their supervisor all on the same day,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Shu-ying (黃淑英) told a press conference.
A copy of the procedures, which the flight attendant said were instituted this year and were e-mailed internally by the company, was given to reporters yesterday.
Its authenticity could not be confirmed, but the e-mail states that the rule applies during national holidays, the Lunar New Year holiday, weekends and the busy season between July and August. Regulations for other periods were not mentioned.
The e-mail said that the changes were made “in order to fulfill the efficient use of human resources and avoid creating frequent changes to the schedule of other crew members.”
Huang later told reporters that the airline company in question was EVA Airways.
The council said that while those restrictions may not of themselves go against the law, which allows employers to ask for medical documentation, the procedures were “unnecessary” and “unreasonable.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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