Insurance agents and labor unions’ representatives yesterday criticized the Regulations Governing the Supervision of Insurance Solicitors (保險業務員管理規則) for giving too much power to insurance companies to penalize their sales agents.
The rules — aimed to prevent inappropriate marketing — allow companies to give rewards to or impose disciplinary measures on their agents, but firms have weaponized the rules and punished agents as they want, Republic of China Insurance Union Alliance director Chuang Ching-hsiang (莊敬祥) said at a public hearing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
For example, Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽保險), had punished agents for “disrupting order in the office,” while Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽保險) required its agents to sign non-disclosure declarations and give up their legal rights, Chuang said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“Our colleagues were even fined for reposting media reports of Nan Shan Life Insurance Co’s (南山人壽) dubious transactions,” Nan Shan labor union president Tsai Kun-ying (蔡坤穎) said.
There are 380,000 agents in the nation, and most companies impose unreasonably strict disciplinary measures on them, alliance chairman Yan Ching-lung (嚴慶龍) said.
Companies can impose rules on their employees, according to the Labor Standards Act (勞基法), but most insurance agents are contracted workers and deserve fewer restrictions, Yan said.
The law also allows firms to cancel agents’ registrations, which prevents them from working in the industry for three years, he said.
“The rules are disproportional. Given that a mayor who is removed from office cannot run for election to the same office in three years, the punishment on an ordinary citizen should not be as severe,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Mark Ho (何志偉) said.
The unions urged the Financial Supervisory Commission and the Ministry of Labor to work together to resolve the disputes.
Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa (施瓊華) said the commission would consider amending regulations to resolve the long-lasting disputes.
The commission would review as soon as possible the reports of unreasonable disciplinary measures, Shih said, adding that it would “consider whether the punishment of canceling agents’ registrations is too severe.”
“The disputes have existed for a long time, but we will not ignore them. We will fix them in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor,” she said.
DPP Legislator Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌) said the Insurance Act (保險法) should also be amended to be comply with labor regulations.
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