The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a series of bills to facilitate employment for middle-aged and older people, safe use of pesticides, restoration of historic sites and promotion of the national sports team’s welfare.
Amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), the Middle-aged and Elderly Employment Promotion Act (中高齡者及高齡者就業促進法), the Land Act (土地法) and the National Sports Act (國家體育法), and a draft bill of the plant therapist act (植物診療師法) all passed their third readings at the legislature.
The amendment to Article 54 of the Labor Standards Act stipulates that workers aged 65 or older can extend their retirement age via an agreement with their employer.
Photo: CNA
Although in practice, workers and employers could negotiate the retirement age under the original act, the amendment clarifies the ambiguity, former minister of labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said yesterday.
Amendments to the Middle-aged and Elderly Employment Promotion Act officially include an employment program for middle-aged and senior workers to ensure that both workers and employers understand the program.
A part-time work scheme, proposed by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Yueh-chin (林月琴) during the review, has been included as well to facilitate part-time employment of older people.
The amendments also stipulate that employers should assist with retirement adaptation and re-employment within two years of the voluntary or compulsory retirement ages defined by the Labor Standards Act, with subsidies from the central authorities.
The plant therapist act seeks to ensure food safety and sustainability of agricultural environments through the establishment of a professional plant therapist service system accredited by national examinations.
The act stipulates that plant therapists could teach farm workers about precision pesticide use without affecting the right of agricultural workers to use pest control diagnosis services from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Amendments to the National Sports Act were introduced in response to an insurance issue in February that affected the participation of the men’s national basketball team in a qualifying match for next year’s FIBA Asia Cup.
The amendments stipulate that central authorities should provide consolation money, medical care and career guidance for national team players and staff members who suffer from short-term physical dysfunctions, physical or mental disabilities, or death due to training or participation in games.
The base amount of consolation money has been raised to compensate for the differences not covered by commercial insurance schemes for national team players during their participation in games.
The amendment to Article 14 of the Land Act eases restrictions on the accessibility to the public land of historic sites by state-owned enterprises and public bodies.
That would help restore and maintain historic sites, as public land could not be transferred even though part of the historic buildings on which they stood belongs to a state-owned enterprise or public body.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS