More than 20 labor groups yesterday protested outside the Ministry of Labor building in Taipei, staging a Ghost Month ceremony to honor people who have died from overwork since 2010, and demanding that the ministry enforce regulatory standards and abolish the “designated responsibility” exemptions stipulated by Article 84-1 of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
Labor Party Hsinchu County Councilor Kao Wei-kai (高偉凱) said that Taiwan is “world-famous for long hours and low pay,” and that if overwork was an Olympic sport, Taiwan “would be winning gold medals.”
If the ministry does not respond to demands, labor groups would “escalate” the protests, he said.
Photo: Wu Po-wei, Taipei Times
Taiwan Security Professionals Union secretary-general Lo Tien-fu (羅添福) said that although the Labor Standards Act mandates eight-hour work days and one rest day for every seven days of work, the law’s Article 84-1 enables employers certified by the Ministry of Labor to set their own work hours after negotiating with unions, a practice he said is a “back door abetting employers’ exploitation of workers.”
The exemptions have harmed security guards, Lo said, adding that many security guards work more than 12 hours per day and it is typical for them to work 300 hours of overtime per month.
“The ministry goes through the motions of inspecting labor standards, but employers produce falsified records for the ministry, while workers are scared of losing their jobs if they tip off authorities; this makes overwork a widespread problem,” he said.
Lo said that while security guards comprise only 10 percent of workers in the manufacturing sector, more security guards have died from overwork than any other profession in the sector, with the Bureau of Labor Insurance attributing 37 deaths in the past five years to overwork.
Lo said he believes the exemption is to blame.
Trade Union of Electrical, Electronics and Information Workers in Taiwan secretary-general Lin Min-che (林明哲) said the high-tech industry is a high-risk group for overwork-related deaths, and that although the industry does not fall under Article 84-1 exemptions, employers frequently demand overtime of their workers, turning the sector into a de facto designated responsibility trade.
Taoyuan City Electronics Workers’ Union director Chao Chien-hui (趙建輝) said that when he worked for HTC Corp, his supervisor would call him at midnight with additional work, and that coworkers who left the office according to their scheduled time were “scolded” by supervisors.
In response, Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment Director-General Hsieh Chien-chien (謝倩蒨) said the number of Article 84-1 exemptions granted to employers has been declining and the ministry is continuing to review procedures and listen to workers.
Firms on the designated responsibility system are still subjected to applicable working conditions and hours restrictions by law, and workers are encouraged to inform the ministry of employers who abuse the system by calling the 1955 hotline, she said.
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