A group of nurses protested outside the Council of Labor Affairs yesterday against harsh working conditions, demanding the abolition of an article in the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) that makes it possible to make medical staffers work long hours of overtime.
Wang Yun-hsu (王云緒), a member of the preparatory group for the Taiwan Radical Nurses Union, urged the government to abolish Article 84-1 of the act, which effectively makes long hours of overtime legal.
The article stipulates that, should employers in certain job categories reach agreement with their employees and report the agreement to the relevant supervisory agency, they would be considered exempt from the provisions of Articles 30, 32, 36, 37 and 49 under the act.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
These articles regulate the maximum number of working hours, the minimum number of weekly days off and the maximum amount of overtime for employees. They also stipulate additional safety measures that should be provided to female workers who work from 10pm to 6am.
Wang called on supervisory agencies to enforce a 48-hour interval between each shift rotation, because most nurses have two or three types of shifts each week. He cited Article 34 of the act, which stipulates that work shifts should be rotated once a week and that employees must be given adequate rest time.
The nurses complained that they are sometimes told to work a night shift and start a morning shift at 7am the next day.
The nurses said long working hours have compromised their health, leading to a situation in which sick nurses are looking after patients.
As for a recently announced government funded overtime fund of NT$2 billion (US$67.8 million), which will also be used to hire more staff, the nurses said that if current working conditions continue, they might not live long enough to enjoy the money they make working overtime.
The nurses said they would join labor rights activists in a Labor Day anti-poverty demonstration on Tuesday in Taipei to demand immediate improvements to their working conditions.
Labor Conditions Department official Chen Hui-min (陳慧敏) said her department would work with the Department of Health and improve workplace checks to protect the rights of medical personnel.
The council last year reviewed Article 84-1, under which some employers practice the “system of job responsibility,” she said.
Under that system, employees are assigned tasks to complete regardless of how long the work takes to complete.
Officials decided that most medical personnel would be exempt from the system by March 30.
However, the exemption does not cover medical staffers that work in emergency rooms, delivery rooms, operating rooms, post-anesthesia recovery rooms, burn units, intensive care units and organ transplant groups who will not receive an exemption until 2014, Chen said.
To prevent the article from being abused in the medicare sector, Chen said the labor council had also drafted a guide for employers to follow. The guide stipulates that daily work hours should not exceed 10 hours, daily working hours plus overtime should not exceed 12 hours and there should be a minimum 12-hour interval between shifts.
The guide also says that working time should not exceed 168 hours over four weeks or 240 hours per full month. In addition, it requires at least one day off a week or two days off every two weeks for employees, she said.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS