Accompanied by representatives from various civic groups, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) researcher Bo Tedards yesterday accused the foundation of removing him from his duties as International Cooperation Department director because he took eight months of parental leave.
Formerly director of the foundation’s International Cooperation Department, Tedards went on parental leave in the middle of last year to take care of his child.
However, when he went back to work in January, he encountered something unexpected.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“I sat down and before I turned on my computer, I was called to [TFD] president Huang Teh-fu’s (黃德福) office,” Tedards told a press conference held at the legislature. “I was told that I was to be transferred from the director position to a simple researcher.”
“I asked if the transfer was because of my work performance, but Huang said: ‘No,’” Tedards said, adding that he actually received an “A” grade for his performance at work last year.
He then applied for mediation from the Taipei City Government’s Department of Labor, but no consensus was reached between Tedards and his employer during the negotiations. With the assistance of the Taiwan Labour Front, Tedards filed a discrimination complaint with the Department of Labor — which ruled that the TFD was in violation of labor laws and fined the foundation NT$50,000 (US$1,600).
“The TFD, a semi-governmental organization with the objective of promoting democracy and human rights, has set a very bad example and it is violating its own commitment to promote human rights,” Taiwan Women’s Link secretary-general Tsai Wan-fen (蔡宛芬) said. “According to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), each employee is entitled to a parental leave for up to two years. So, in fact, Tedards could have taken a longer leave if he had wanted to.”
Responding to the issue, Huang, at a separate setting yesterday, said Tedards has, officially, always been a researcher, but he concurrently held the position of a director.
“It was just a job adjustment that had nothing to do with the parental leave,” Huang said.
After receiving the ruling, the foundation decided to appeal, Huang said.
Department of Labor Commissioner Chen Yeh-hsin (陳業鑫) yesterday defended the ruling.
“Our own investigation showed that Tedards’ transfer was obviously related to his parental leave,” he said. “Besides, it’s written on his work contract that he is a ‘director,’ so it’s obvious that the position is not a ‘concurrent’ one as the TDF argues.”
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