Trade groups are drafting a paper that asks the government to allow them more flexibility in dealing with overtime and holiday compensation.
The Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI, 全國工總), the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA, 電電公會) and the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC, 工商協進會) have joined forces in pressing for labor rule revisions, as they deem the requirements to be unreasonable and inflexible.
“Premier William Lai (賴清德) should take bold steps and revise the labor law, because the rules have posed a big headache for firms across sectors,” the CNFI secretary-general Tsai Lien-sheng (蔡練生) said by telephone.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Lai has indicated his willingness to revisit the issue.
The trade groups suggest raising the weekly overtime limit from 46 hours to 50 hours, or a semiannual maximum of 300 hours.
Flexibility is important for manufacturers, especially in high seasons when firms rely on overtime work to meet demand, said the CNFI, which consists of 155 associations and represents the majority of local manufacturers.
The government in December last year implemented the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” regulation that requires overtime to be compensated with three times the amount of regular pay to discourage the practice. The rules also require more annual leave for new workers.
Many firms have kept tight payrolls and increased temporary workers to avoid overtime and personnel costs, the CNFI said.
The groups propose lowering the required amount of overtime compensation to two-and-a-half times regular pay for listed companies and two times for small and medium-sized enterprises, Tsai said.
Small businesses have opted to close on weekends and holidays to save on labor costs, CNFI said.
The practice denies the opportunity to work overtime to employees who would prefer to do so, even at a lower rate, CNFI chairman Rock Hsu (許勝雄) said.
The CNAIC urged the government to calculate overtime pay in accordance with the actual amount of overtime worked.
The rules require overtime compensation of a half day or a full day’s pay, regardless of whether employees worked that long.
The requirement is not fair for companies, because employees may ask for leave after working an hour and receive half a day’s pay, a CNAIC official said by telephone, requesting anonymity.
The groups said they would present a draft bill to the Cabinet and government agencies next week.
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