Sat, Nov 16, 2019 page3

• Act to boost employment of older workers passed

  • By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
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  The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the Act to Promote the Employment of Middle-aged and Senior Workers (中高齡及高齡者就業促進法), which aims to boost the nation’s economic security by improving the rights of workers aged 45 or older.

  The Executive Yuan drafted the bill to address the nation’s shrinking labor force stemming from a low birth rate.

  The act defines middle-aged workers as people aged 45 to 64 and senior workers as those aged 65 and older. It applies to Republic of China citizens and foreigners who have obtained residency through marriage.

  

  Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan, back row, center, presides over the 10th legislative meeting of the eighth session of the ninth legislature at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

  Employers should hire workers aged 65 or above using fixed-term contracts, the act says.

  They must not discriminate against middle-aged or senior job applicants or employees; those who breach this regulation would face a fine of NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million (US$9,824 to US$49,119), it says.

  Discriminatory treatment refers to disadvantageous actions taken against a job applicant or employee pertaining to their employment, promotion, training, wages and benefits, retirement or dismissal, according to the act.

  However, the rule does not apply to jobs that are age-sensitive in nature or if bonuses are paid out based on seniority, rewards and punishments, job performance or other non-age-related reasons, it says.

  Job applicants or employees may file complaints on age discrimination with local labor authorities, which would then assign their age-discrimination review committee to review the complaints, it says.

  If an employer is accused of age discrimination by a job applicant or employee, it should provide evidence that the action it has been accused of was due to the aforementioned exceptions, it says.

  Employers must not retaliate against employees who have filed — or helped other employees file — grievances against them by dismissing or transferring them, or take any other action that is harmful to them. Those who contravene this rule would be fined NT$20,000 to NT$160,000, the act stipulates.

  The Ministry of Labor may issue subsidies to employers who have over a specific period continued to hire a certain number of employees who have reached retirement age, it says.

  Subsidies may also be paid out to employers who have proposed plans to rehire an employee in the year preceding the employee’s retirement, as well as employers who adjust the responsibilities of middle-aged or senior workers who have disabilities or help them find new jobs or employers, it says.

  Rules on the funding, disbursement and abolition of subsidies are to be set out by the labor ministry, it says.

  The ministry is to create a retired labor force database for use by employers and regularly update it, it says, adding that the database should conform to the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法).

  To meet national development needs, the ministry should consult local governments and the governing agencies of industries on ways to create job opportunities for middle-aged and senior workers, the act states.

  These agencies are required to publish an employment plan for middle-aged and senior workers at least every three years, while local governments should devise plans that would facilitate their employment, it says.

  Public employment agencies should regularly collate and analyze data on the occupations held and salaries earned by middle-aged and senior workers in their jurisdictions, and put forward employment plans based on their analyses, it says.

  The agencies should publish the job opportunities identified on the ministry’s Web site, it says.
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