Many perceived problems with a draft amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) have existed for a long time and have nothing to do with the bill, Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠) said yesterday.
Lin made the remarks at a legislative hearing held by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in response to lawmakers’ comments on the draft amendment.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) asked the Ministry of Labor to stop implying that workers would only be made to work 12 consecutive days under extreme circumstances, saying that the situation should never be allowed to arise.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
He said the proposed amendment relies too heavily on negotiations between employers and employees, which would be the condition for business owners to reduce rest time between shifts from 11 to eight hours and to raise the monthly overtime quota from 46 to 54 hours, as long as overtime is capped at 138 hours every three months
The regulations governing the workweek, working hours, the calculation of overtime pay and total overtime hours would not be changed by the amendment, Lin said, adding that the ministry hopes that employees would still be granted two days off each week after the passage of the amendment.
Businesses must obtain the consent of their workers and register with local authorities before they are allowed to implement a 12-day workweek, she said.
Most local governments approve of the proposed amendment and the central government would improve communication with them, as they monitor business owners to ensure that labor rules are followed, she said.
DPP lawmaker Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) raised concern over the disproportionately large role played by employer-employee negotiations under the proposed amendment, saying that workers get the short end of the stick.
The act has loopholes, which would make it prone to abuse, Kuan said, citing a lack of rules prohibiting employees from working 12 consecutive hours.
The ministry would use opinions gathered yesterday as a reference if the act is to be changed again in the future, Lin said.
The KMT caucus criticized the DPP’s rejection of its request to hold two public hearings on the proposed amendment.
The DPP is being reckless by allowing the two parties to hold just one hearing each, which is unacceptable given the amendment’s far-reaching implications, the KMT said.
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