The Ministry of Labor on Tuesday issued guidelines aimed at clarifying whether workers should be deemed employees or contractors in labor contracts.
The guidelines are not legally binding, but are designed to help businesses, workers and government agencies to make better determinations.
Under the guidelines, whether a worker should be considered an employee or not largely depends on their level of subordination, or more simply, how much independence they have in determining aspects of their work.
Determining factors include whether workers are allowed to freely choose when, where and how they work, if they can freely refuse assigned work and if they face consequences for violating company regulations.
They also include how involved the worker is in a company’s structure, such as whether they can independently finish their work, or if they have to cooperate with others to do so.
The guidelines include a 25-item checklist to evaluate contracts.
The more items checked off on the list, the more likely it is that the worker should be deemed a formal employee, the ministry said.
Businesses should review their labor contracts and make adjustments if necessary, but labor authorities have the final say in determining whether workers are deemed employees, the ministry said.
The guidelines were drafted in response to the death of two food couriers killed in traffic accidents last month.
The couriers were not insured by their companies, Uber Eats and Foodpanda, as they were deemed to be contractors, not employees.
By law, labor insurance is mandatory for employees of companies with more than five workers, and it covers injuries on the job, death benefits and retirement payments.
Companies that fail to comply are subject to fines.
The incidents sparked investigations into eight food delivery platforms in Taiwan, and the ministry determined that five are formal employers of their couriers or drivers, including Uber Eats and Foodpanda.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
RSS