Companies caught violating the Labor Standards Act
遲到一小時扣六千　僱主違勞基法

Migrant workers and worker rights’ activists demonstrate against the government’s failure to protect the rights of migrant workers in front of the Presidential Office on Dec. 15 last year.

移工與勞工維權者去年十二月十五日在總統府前，抗議政府未能保障移工的勞動條件。

The Taipei City Government Labor Inspection Office at the end of last year received several complaints from employees working for companies in the broadcast media, security and food and beverage sectors. Among them, one media company was allegedly deducting NT$100 from employee paychecks for every minute that they were late to work, or NT$6,000 for being an hour late. A private security company and other companies were forcing employees to bear the cost of the uniforms they were required to wear, deducting the cost from their wages. All of these actions violate the requirement in the Labor Standards Act that states wages must be paid in full. Those failing to do so can be fined between NT$200,000 and NT$300,000.
Department of Labor Chief Secretary Wu Meng-lin says that among the three companies that were investigated after receiving the complaints, it was found that the media company was using management as an excuse to dock workers’ wages for being late. According to the act, the amount being deducted for tardiness cannot exceed the calculated amount of an employee’s average hourly wages, Wu says, adding that deducting NT$6,000 for being an hour late is completely disproportionate.
The companies that created these unlawful requirements have been asked to amend them and the Taipei City Government Department of Labor will decide whether the names of the companies that broke the law will be made public.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
台北市勞動檢查處去年底接獲廣播媒體業、保全業及餐飲業等員工申訴，其中竟有媒體業者規定員工遲到一分鐘扣一百元，等同遲到一小時要扣六千元；亦有保全公司等業者強迫員工穿制服，制服費卻從勞工薪資扣款，皆違反「勞動基準法」之工資未全額給付規定，可處新台幣二至三十萬元罰鍰。
勞檢處主秘吳夢麟表示，稽查三家遭申訴公司發現，有媒體業者以管理為由，訂定勞工遲到扣款規定，但勞工上班遲到扣薪，不得逾越換算後勞工應領的時薪，一小時扣六千元，完全不符比例原則。

TODAY’S WORDS (今日單字)

1. deduct v.
扣除；減除 (kou4 chu2; jian3 chu2)
例: Income taxes and social security are automatically deducted from your paycheck.
(所得稅與社會福利自動從薪津扣除。)
2. uniform n.
制服 (zhi4 fu2)
例: The team is ordering new uniforms next month.
(球隊下個月要訂新制服。)
3. disproportionate adj.
不均衡的；不相稱的 (bu4 jun1 heng2 de5; bu4 xiang1 chen4 de5)
例: She believes that the poor bear a disproportionate share of the tax burden.
(她認為窮人負擔不相稱的賦稅。)