New legislation should be passed guaranteeing workers typhoon days off, labor rights advocates said yesterday, adding that many department store and other service sector workers are forced to work during typhoons.
More than a dozen campaigners from the Taiwan Sales Worker Union, Taiwan Railway Union, Taiwan Nurses Union and other labor groups gathered outside the Ministry of Labor in Taipei, calling on the ministry to stop evading the issue, before pasting petitions onto walls outside the ministry.
Youth Labor Union 95 president Catta Chou (周于萱) called on the ministry to take action before this year’s typhoon season begins, saying that former minister of labor Kuo Fong-yu (郭芳煜) in September last year promised that the ministry would examine implementing mandatory rules.
“Even when local governments declare a typhoon day, the proclamation is only truly binding for civil servants, as a vast number of workers are not guaranteed the day off,” Chou said. “Even though ministry guidelines stipulate that workers should not be recorded as ‘absent without leave’ or be financially penalized for not going to work on a typhoon day, the guidelines only express a ‘hope’ that employers comply.”
Many employers, especially in the service sector, do not comply because of the prospect of earning “typhoon riches,” she said.
Department stores, movie theaters and similar establishments are often flooded with customers when typhoon conditions are less severe than expected, as consumers take advantage of their extra leisure time.
Taiwan Sales Worker Union director Tung Chung-chen (董仲珍) said sales clerks are often required to be on standby and go to work on typhoon days, exposing them to dangers on the road, particularly when buses and other forms of public transportation cease operations.
“Every industry is different and there is also public demand for services, so there is a lot of division over the issue across different sectors and we need a bit more time for dialogue to establish a consensus,” Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment section director Mao Hsi-wen (茆昔文) said, adding that workers are not duty-bound to report for work on typhoon days.
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