Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) publicly apologized today for the suicide of a civil servant in the ministry’s Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and announced the result of an investigation into the incident.
Additionally, branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) was said to be involved in workplace bullying and would be held administratively accountable and demoted to a non-supervisory position, the ministry said.
WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he is willing to bear the responsibility and receive a harsh penalty.
Photo: Lee Ching-hui, Taipei Times
This comes after a 39-year-old WDA civil servant in the agency’s northern branch, which covers greater Taipei, Keelung, Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found deceased in the office on Nov. 4.
The ministry today announced the result of an investigation under the direction of Deputy Minister of Labor Hsu Chuan-sheng (許傳盛) following allegations on social media platform Threads that the employee suffered from workplace bullying and harassment.
The civil servant was the only full-time staff responsible for an intelligent system for employment service and was also the only one who provided information service of the whole branch, Ho said.
The civil servant worked long periods of overtime and was frustrated by the idea that the system was not feasible, she added.
The ministry concluded that the excessive workload, pressure to succeed and lack of support from peers led the employee to feel powerless, she said.
The ministry is to review and suspend the intelligent system and award a medal to the civil servant, Ho said.
The ministry would also seek compensation for the civil servant, Ho added.
At the time of the incident, the ministry said it had activated its Employee Assistance Program to support staff psychological wellbeing and mental health.
In a news conference today, Ho said the employee’s decision reflects a failure on the ministry’s part and the incident is a huge loss for them.
Ho added that she has the responsibility of investigating the incident and ensuring that the correct people are held accountable.
Hsieh’s management style was not directly responsible for the civil servant’s death, Ho said, but under the Public Functionaries Merit Evaluation Act (公務人員考績法), must bear administrative responsibility for the tragedy.
The ministry would ask the Executive Yuan to reconsider the business pressure and labor needs of government agencies, Ho said.
Additional reporting by Lee Ching-hui
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