Fishers and some high-ranking white-collar supervisors would be considered as exempt employees as of yesterday, according to the Ministry of Labor.
Due to the characteristics of their professions, which could sometimes require them to work more than 12 consecutive hours, fishers, as well as office supervisors who get a monthly base salary of more than NT$150,000 and are hired to run a business and oversee staff, would be subject to the new regulation, the ministry said on Wednesday.
Based on the recently revised Article 84-1 of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), such white-collar supervisors must manage the business and have the authority to promote or dismiss staff, the ministry said.
The new measure is expected to affect about 90,000 people: about 50,000 Taiwanese and foreign fishers working aboard fishing boats, and about 38,000 white-collar supervisors, it said.
In general, to be considered an exempt employee, a person must be paid a salary rather than an hourly wage, and must perform executive, administrative or professional duties that make them ineligible for overtime pay.
The new regulation was devised to allow these two categories of employees and their employers greater flexibility when negotiating contracts, the ministry said, adding that such contracts must be approved by a local government before they can take effect.
The ministry said that between Monday and June 10 it would announce whether resident doctors would be designated as exempt employees, which could affect 4,680 physicians.
The act stipulates that ordinary employees are not permitted to work more than eight hours per day and no more than 40 hours per week, with no more than 46 hours per month of overtime.
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