Controversy over interpretations of the Labor Standards Act’s (勞基法) “weekly days off” (例假) provisions of were highlighted yesterday at a forum for labor rights campaigners and business representatives at the Executive Yuan.
In opening remarks to the forum, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said that the government was seeking to find a balance between labor rights and reasonable operations in interpreting an article of the act which mandates that workers take a “weekly day off” at least once every “seven days.”
“While most will follow the path of a weekly day off every seven days, should there be exceptions? If there are exceptions, what limittations should there be?” he said.
Photo: CNA
Substantial time would be allowed before any proposed “discretionary standard” is finalized to ensure it is not out of touch with society’s expectations, Lin said.
The Ministry of Labor has historically interpreted the “seven days” cited in the act to refer to a “week,” theoretically allowing 12 straight days of work bookended by two “weekly days off.”
Plans to abolish that interpretation amid complaints from transportation workers’ unions were abruptly dropped last month just before they were due to be implemented after public bus companies said widespread route reductions would be implemented during holidays.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Deputy Minister of Labor Liau Huei-fang (廖蕙芳) said the proposed “discretionary standard” would focus on special, short-term duties for the sake of “public convenience,” citing the example of transportation and slaughterhouse workers during major national holidays, as well as work at sea or in remote areas far from their homes.
About 30 people associated with the Taipei City Confederation of Trade Unions gathered outside the Executive Yuan prior to participating in the forum, calling the government’s previous interpretation illegal and shouting slogans accusing it of changing its mind to benefit big businesses.
“There is no room for negotiation between labor and capital on this — the problem is that the government does not even have the resolve to execute the law,” Taipei City Confederation of Trade Unions executive director Chen Shu-lun (陳淑綸) said.
The government is trying to act as mediator between the competing interests of labor and corporations, Chen said.
“There is no such thing as a ‘discretionary standard’ on whether or not corporations have violated a law — the only discretion allowed is the size of the fine levied, which depends on the severity of the offense,” she said.
“The only problem is labor and costs — not obeying the law. The real reason corporations are complaining is they do not want to hire more people or pay higher salaries,” she said.
She cited the example of bus companies in Taipei, which receive government subsidies intended to cover the difference between ticket prices and operating costs, even though on average they employ 1.2 drivers per bus instead of the 1.62 drivers government regulations stipulate.
“Operators swallow that cost difference,” she said.
The debate over how to interpret existing “weekly days off” provisions raises questions about how the government plans to implement reforms intended to guarantee “two days off each work week,” she said.
Chen also rejected Lin’s statement that the government was considering lowering eligibility thresholds for annual leave as part of plans to abolish some national holidays.
Part-time workers would likely fail to qualify for annual leave under new standards while still losing overtime pay from working on national holidays, she said.
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