Female workers cannot refuse employers’ requests to work night shifts unless they have proper cause, the Council of Grand Justices said yesterday.
Constitutional Interpretation No. 807 states that Paragraph 1, Article 49 of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), which prevented employers from forcing women to work nights, is invalid, as it runs counter to Article 7 of the Constitution, the council said, annulling the article effective immediately.
The first paragraph of Article 49 states that employers cannot force women to work between 10pm and 6am without approval from a union.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
Employers could, with union approval or through an agreement with the worker, avoid this requirement by providing a safe and clean environment for them, or when there is no public transportation available, an employer must provide transportation or dormitories for female workers.
Employers asking women to work a night shift would have to ensure that work standards and facilities comply with regulations under the Labor Standards Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業衛生安全法) and the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法), the council said.
The protection offered under paragraph 5 of the article — such as forbidding pregnant women, or women who are breastfeeding from working night shifts — has also been removed.
A request for an interpretation was filed after Carrefour and China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) were penalized for contravening Paragraph 1, Article 49 of the Labor Standards Act.
The Taipei High Administrative Court had also filed a separate call for a constitutional interpretation regarding the same paragraph.
Additional reporting by Chen Chia-yu
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