The Taipei City Department of Labor fined a local company NT$100,000 for firing a female employee for marrying a coworker, establishing the nation’s first case against discrimination of relationships in the workplace.
The female employee, who developed a relationship with an office coworker, married this year. Upon learning of the marriage, the company said policy forbade office relationships and fired the bride, according to the department.
Department of Labor Director Chen Yeh-shin (陳業鑫) said the department began investigating the case after the woman filed a complaint. The company claimed that it fired her because of poor work performance, but failed to provide evidence to back up its claims.
Taipei City’s Gender Employment Equality Committee discussed the case last month and decided that the company had violated Article 11 of the Gender Equality in Employment Act (性別工作平等法), which stipulates that employers should not use marriage as a reason to fire people.
The department said the female employee was working at an investment and research firm. She said the firm had asked her to quit after she told her superintendent about the marriage. However, the firm said her husband could stay at the company.
This was the first employer to be fined for banning office relationships and firing an employee because he or she got married. The department declined to reveal the name of the firm or the identity of the worker.
Chen said firms can transfer workers to other departments if an office relationship develops and affects their performance.
If office relationships affect the performance of employees in the workplace, employers must first inform the employees and give them time to improve their performance before firing them, Chen said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS