The Control Yuan yesterday censured the New Taipei City Jinshan District Office and demanded that the city’s government discipline personnel over negligence of duty resulting in death through overwork of office worker Chen Chia-wei (陳嘉緯) in August last year.
The Control Yuan’s investigative report said that the district office had cut corners by employing Chen under numerous titles and salaries — ranging from NT$27,434 to NT$34,916 per month — to manage public relations and news announcements.
Chen was tasked with reviewing and approving content posted online, meaning he shouldered great responsibility, despite having little authority, a violation of the spirit of employment, the report said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
In the month before his death, Chen had logged more than 100 hours of overtime, and worked an average of 85 hours of overtime per month for the six months prior to his death, it said.
The district office’s two directors had failed in their duty to protect their employee and had worked Chen to death, constituting a major oversight, it said.
That the directors claimed Chen’s overtime was due to his sense of responsibility and high standards was apparently a move to shirk responsibility for the death, the report said.
The district office breached the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), which an inspection by the New Taipei City Labor Standards Inspection Office on Aug. 9, 2018, had failed to discover, the report said.
The report urged the city government to look into the issue and implement remedial measures.
The directors are being held responsible, as they were tasked with employing Chen and defining the responsibilities of his job, it said.
Chen faced all of the restrictions of a civil servant in terms of overtime pay, but he did not receive the benefits of the position, it said.
The Examination Yuan and its Directorate-General of Personnel Administration should consider regulations to prevent similar incidents, the report said.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said that the city government would look into measures to protect workers’ rights.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hui
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