Migrant workers back rule change

FEATURE: Migrant workers back rule change

Staff writer, with CNA

Mon, Apr 27, 2015 - Page 3

Migrant workers are backing a proposal by lawmakers to increase the total number of years foreign nationals can work in Taiwan, saying it would benefit those who wish to work longer in the nation to support their families back home.

“This is good for us. Many Indonesian workers do not want to go back yet, because they have to support their families and earn their children’s college tuition,” said Nanik Riyati, an Indonesian caregiver who has worked in Taiwan for seven years.

Nineteen lawmakers, including Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Huei-chen (江惠貞), proposed an amendment to the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) at the legislature on Wednesday that would allow foreign workers to work a total of 15 years in Taiwan, compared with the current maximum of 12.

Nanik said some of her friends have reluctantly left for Hong Kong after approaching the 12-year limit. Places such as Hong Kong and South Korea do not set a ceiling on the aggregate number of years foreign nationals can work in their territories.

Cathy from the Philippines, who wished only to be identified by her first name, said she would benefit greatly if the proposed amendment passes.

“Salary in the Philippines is not the same as it is here. It is not enough,” said the 39 year-old, who has worked as a caregiver in Taiwan for six years.

A mother of four, with her eldest in college, Cathy said she would like to stay in Taiwan “as long as possible,” because she has four kids to support, adding that “when I get older I cannot work.”

“A lot of Filipinos, they want to stay in Taiwan, but if they cannot come back, they will apply [to work in] Canada,” Cathy said.

Mary, a 39-year-old Filipino who works at an electronics factory, said that, with three children to support, she was also hoping to work longer in Taiwan, where she can earn much more than in her home country. Mary, who also wished to be identified only by her first name, said she earned about 12,000 Philippine pesos (US$271.49) when she worked at a garment factory in the Philippines prior to coming to Taiwan. She now earns double that amount.

In addition to the proposal allowing foreign nationals to work for up to 15 years in Taiwan, lawmakers also proposed scrapping a regulation requiring migrant workers to leave the nation for at least one day every three years when their work permit expires.

“The three-year restriction is a lot of trouble for us, and very expensive too,” Nanik said.

Round-trip airplane tickets and visa fees can easily exceed NT$25,000, and Nanik, who is from Central Java, has to travel 12 hours by bus to Jakarta to get her visa renewed each time.

Meanwhile, Cathy said she has to pay between 80,000 and 95,000 pesos to Filipino brokers every time she returns to Taiwan to work, an amount that equals about four months of her salary.

“We have no choice, because we want to go to Taiwan to work,” Mary said.

Ministry of Labor statistics show that, as of Feb. 28, there were 513,570 legally employed foreign workers in Taiwan and 44,204 foreign workers whose whereabouts were unknown. The largest contingent of foreign workers in Taiwan comes from Indonesia, with 230,000 people working in the nation, according to the figures.

While migrant workers see the amendment as a form of progress, Taiwan International Workers’ Association policy researcher Chen Hsiu-lien (陳秀蓮) said there should be no cap on the number of years foreign workers can work in Taiwan in the first place.

Taiwan’s immigration laws have already ruled out the possibility of migrant workers obtaining a Taiwanese national identification card based on the number of years they stay in the nation, so there is no point to a cap, Chen said.

While many might benefit from the proposed amendment, for Nanik, nine years away from home is already too long. When she finishes her ninth year, she will be ready to go home to Indonesia, the mother of a seven-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter said.

“They have grown up. They need me beside them. It has been too long,” she said.

Cabinet approves 40-hour workweek

SHORTER HOURS?Labor rights advocates described the proposed changes as meaningless, as they would also raise the cap on overtime hours by eight per month

By Alison Hsiao and Lii Wen  /  Staff reporters

Democratic Progressive Party legislators hold signs calling for the working week to be limited to 40 hours at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times

The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal that would cut the workweek to 40 hours, raise the cap on overtime work to 54 hours per month and extend the application of the two days off per week policy across the board.

The proposal, which still has to be approved by the Legislative Yuan, is expected to benefit 3.4 million workers, the Ministry of Labor said.

The proposed amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) would change current regulations defining regular working time as 84 hours every two weeks to 40 hours per week, while raising the maximum limit on overtime work from 46 hours to 54 hours per month to minimize its effect on industries, Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) said.

“Business groups had suggested an annual [instead of monthly] cap on overtime hours, but the ministry believed it could easily lead to overwork. For example, workers could be asked to do 108 hours of overtime in a month over a two-month span, because that would still average out as 54 hours per month,” Chen said.

The two days off per week policy has been implemented in the public sector since 2001, and 50.1 percent of companies in the private sector have since followed suit, covering 58 percent of the working population.

“That means the remaining 42 percent, or 3.4 million workers, would benefit from an all-inclusive implementation of the policy,” the minister said.

Supporting measures have also been drafted, which includes “leveling” the number of non-working holidays enjoyed by private employees to that of public servants, Chen said.

“Civil servants have 11 nonworking holidays, while private employees have 19,” Chen said.

Non-working holidays for private employees will be cut to 11 — the same as civil servants — but they will still observe Labor Day on May 1, giving them a total of 12 non-working holidays, he said.

“The other seven national holidays will still be commemorated, but they will be working holidays,” he added.

The minister said that after factoring all the changes — 104 hours less a year due to the reduction of weekly working hours, 56 hours more as a result of the cuts in non-working holidays and 96 hours more a year due to the increase in maximum overtime working hours — “employees would be able to work 48 hours more [a year], but the extra hours would have to be paid accordingly as overtime.”

However, labor rights advocates view the proposed changes differently, especially the plan to extend the limit on overtime hours.

Describing the plan as an attempt to deceive the public, Taiwan Labour Front said it would only exacerbate the problem of long working hours in Taiwan.

Although the proposed changes would decrease working hours by eight hours per month, they are meaningless since the limit for overtime work would also be increased by eight hours, the group said.

Taiwan Labour Front member Chang Feng-yi (張烽益) said that overtime hours should be kept at 46 hours to truly protect the rights of workers.

The group intends to lobby support for separate versions of the act in the legislature before the end of the month, Chang said, adding that it plans to hold a rally outside the legislature on Thursday next week.

The newly launched Social Democratic Party (SDP) said the government’s proposal avoided more important reforms such as raising the minimum wage.

SDP legislative candidate Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) criticized the minister of labor’s claim that increasing overtime hours could “raise wages in another form.”

“The government should be ashamed of itself if workers are expected to overwork so they can meet their basic necessities,” Miao said.

The Democratic Progressive Party caucus voiced its support for limiting the workweek to 40 hours.

“Currently, the regular working time is 84 hours per two weeks, which is much longer than those in many countries, such as the US, Japan, South Korea, and Japan — which limit the workweek to 40 hours,” DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) told a press conference.

“Legislators across party lines have proposed 11 amendments that are all supportive of revising the law in that direction. I hope the amendments would be passed before Labor Day,” Chao said.

Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin

Taipei to increase living subsidies for certain workers

SOLID FOUNDATION:The changes to workers’ aid from the Taipei Labor Rights Foundation did not require city council approval, an official said

By Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Representatives from various workers’ rights associations hold a press conference in Taipei yesterday, demanding wage increases and announcing a mass demonstration on May 1.

Photo: CNA

The Taipei City Government yesterday announced new plans to support workers’ rights by increasing the living subsidies provided by the Taipei Labor Rights Foundation.

The foundation provides financial support to workers engaged in labor-related legal battles over issues such as pensions, occupational injuries or being illegally fired or laid off.

Financial support includes living subsidies as well as subsidies for workers’ legal expenses.

Term changes announced yesterday are to increase the monthly living subsidies available from NT$19,273 (US$618) to NT$23,000.

“We hope to strengthen guarantees for Taipei’s workers by increasing the living expense subsidies to 1.2 times the minimum wage,” Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said, attributing the change to Taipei’s high cost of living.

Department of Labor Commissioner Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said that subsidy terms would also be lengthened from one to two years for ordinary workers and from two to three years for union officials.

She said the change was to take into consideration the drawn-out legal process for labor disputes, as a single appeal can often take two or three years.

Division chief Ye Chien-neng (葉建能) said that because only the amount and length of subsidies would be altered, the city government did not require approval from the city council for the changes.

He said the department estimates that the changes will increase living subsidies by about 60 percent to about NT$4.9 million annually.

My Opinion: First Taiwan Workers Must Learn How to Breathe

     My wife translated an interesting news story from TV yesterday. It was a report about a boss who fired seven of his workers because they said bad things about him on social media, “Line” in particular. I innocently asked how the boss knew they were bad-mouthing him and she said the boss had set up the “Line” account and had all his employees join with him. I asked if it were not unreasonable for the employees to have relations with their boss after work hours and she said it was not unusual, or illegal in Taiwan for bosses to have that relationship to keep in touch with their employees at a moment’s notice any time of day, even off days. 

     Of course, it begs the question: If the employees knew their boss could see what they had written negatively about him, why would they discuss him there? Didn't they think they would be putting their job in jeopardy if they did? At best, they should have been buttering-up their boss if they knew he was in on the conversation! 

     You can add this intrusion to other oppression bosses perpetrate on their employees without recourse such as overtime without pay, prohibiting tipping, withholding pay “bonuses” until year’s end, etc. Add to this the official prohibition on un-registered unions or even qualified unions if there are fewer than thirty employees present, plus the neo-liberal franchise import tactic of employing only part-timers to avoid having to give benefits, switching hours, branches or even telling workers to go home, unpaid, if business is bad. Trying to promote workers’ unions in Taiwan is like showing someone how to breathe before they have been born. Workers in Taiwan have a long way to go before establishing their rights in the workplace.

Workers cross the Line, get fired for app complaints

‘OVERREACTION’:：A Miaoli County resort fired the seven workers for complaining about its rules via a private group chat on the messaging app Line

By Chen Wei-han  /  Staff writer

Wed, Apr 22, 2015 - Page 3

Seven employees at a Miaoli County resort were dismissed amid charges that they slandered their employer via the popular messaging app Line, with advocates for workers’ rights saying the dismissal was disproportionate to the workers’ alleged infractions.

According to a report yesterday by the Chinese-language Apple Daily, the dismissed workers allegedly left messages in a private group chat on Line complaining about workplace rules, including a uniform fee charged by their employer.

Resort owner Huang Yu-hsiung (黃裕雄) said he discharged them because the messages contained defamatory language, the report said.

“Can I not dismiss employees who had a poor work ethic and who insulted their employer?” Huang was quoted as saying.

Commenting on the case, Taiwan Labor Front director Chang Feng-yi (張烽益) said that although the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) stipulates that it is legal to dismiss employees who have verbally or physically abused employers, Huang “overreacted by simply laying off [the employees], and dismissing this large number of workers might put [his reputation] at stake.”

Lawyer Liu Cheng-mu (劉正穆) said that making insults in a private group chat can result in libel charges, as a group message can “reach a number of readers simultaneously,” which meets the requirements of libel in the Criminal Code.

Miaoli County Government division head Chiu Hsiao-ming (邱曉明) said the government has not yet received any complaints over the matter, adding that employers are not required to report any dismissal of less than one-third of staff members, according to the Mass Labor Layoff Protection Act (大量解雇勞工保護法).

NPA to reduce police officer workload

Staff writer, with CNA

Tue, Apr 21, 2015 - Page 3

The National Police Agency (NPA) has decided to streamline the tasks of police officers to reduce their workload, an official said yesterday.

The restructuring is to be applied to 20 types of police duties, including helping with the inspection of areas where smoking is banned and preventing illegal use of firecrackers and fireworks, NPA Chief Secretary Chen Chia-chang (陳嘉昌) said.

Also, police are no longer to deal with situations that do not fall within the scope of their duties, such as complaints about frog and bird noises, Chen said at a news conference hosted by the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) legislative caucus to draw public attention to officers’ workloads.

KMT caucus whip Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) said that, besides maintaining law and order, police officers are responsible for assisting authorities with 184 tasks.

In addition, officers are sometimes called upon to help change infants’ diapers, clear fallen rocks, search for lost objects and change vehicle tires, Liao said, showing photographs to prove his statement.

In Taipei, there is one police officer for every 388 residents on average, while in New Taipei City the ratio is 1-543, according to KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), who said the ratios highlight the pressure placed on frontline officers.

Most Taipei media failing to pay reporters overtime

‘REGRETFUL’:：Other labor violations included failing to keep attendance records, not meeting with labor representatives and lengthening hours without union approval

By Lii Wen  /  Staff reporter

Tue, Apr 21, 2015 - Page 4

Nearly 80 percent of media organizations in Taipei fail to pay reporters overtime, the Taipei Department of Labor Affairs said yesterday.

The findings were based on a labor inspection conducted across 34 media organizations — including print media, TV news stations and radio broadcasters — with information gathered during 127 inspection trips conducted last month.

Employees at more than 70 percent of media organizations reported work hours that exceed the legal limit as stipulated in the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) — which caps work hours at 12 per day and 46 hours of overtime per month, the department said.

It also revealed that more than 70 percent of media organizations fail to keep attendance records for their employees; 61 percent did not hold regular meetings with labor representatives as required by law; and 58 percent failed to gain approval from union representatives before lengthening work hours.

While all 34 inspected media organizations are to be fined for at least one violation, four media outlets — Apple Daily, the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times), the Commercial Times and Cti Television — topped the list with eight labor violations apiece, the department said.

The amount of fines for each company is to be finalized after the department receives official replies from the companies, the department added.

By law, failure to pay overtime warrants a fine of between NT$20,000 and NT$300,000.

An additional 41 inspection trips took place while accompanied by media professionals, as part of the department’s new professional-accompanied labor inspection program launched last month.

The recently finished inspection of the news industry was among the first wave of labor inspections in the new program, along with inspections of the finance, medical and high-tech industries.

The Apple Daily Employees’ Union said in a statement that it was “regretful” that the Apple Daily was found to have topped the list for violations, adding that the union has issued repeated demands for the company to improve its labor conditions.

The union said that, although the company might pride itself in providing higher wages and benefits than its competitors, it should refrain from endlessly taking advantage of its employees’ labor.

Following the labor inspection, managers at the Apple Daily expressed their intention to devise new methods for keeping track of attendance records and calculating overtime pay, the union said.

Last month, department director Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said that results of the inspection would be sent to the National Communications Commission if government fines failed to improve work conditions among media professionals.

9 out of 10 employees in Taiwan think they are replaceable: survey

2015/04/19 18:45:39

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) Although the job market has begun warming up amid the recovery, many workers in Taiwan remain with a high sense of anxiety about job security, according to a job bank survey, which showed 91 percent of those polled in the working class said they are replaceable at their present jobs.

As high as 56.9 percent of the respondents to the survey on job security anxiety said they had faced the crisis of being replaced or weeded out at least once during their working career.

Among them, 30 percent eventually became the subject of a layoff, 1111 Job Bank said, citing results of the survey it conducted on March 27-April 10 on its online members.

The main reasons that the employees were laid off included poor achievement at work or incompetence (18.8 percent), businesses' practice of downsizing their personnel (17.7 percent), and disputes with colleagues or supervisors (17.7 percent), according to the survey.

Daniel Lee (李大華), deputy general manager of 1111 Job Bank, said that although the country was in gradual recovery, which has prompted a new demand for talent in the job market, some enterprises were reported to have either launched organizational adjustments or been merged over the past years amid rapid changes of global operation strategies due to technological and machinery upgrades.

Citing Ministry of Labor data, Lee pointed out that the number of employees in the mass layoff plans presented to the ministry was 8,727 people in 2013.

The figure increased to 11,281 in 2014, and the number of people set to be laid off this year has already reached 5,713 as of February, Lee said.

Judging from these figures, he expected there will be more people laid off this year than the previous year. The situation reflects the trend in which layoffs have become a standard method most enterprises will exploit to control operational costs in the modern economy.

"Because the concept of life-time employment no longer exists, the working class could likely be forced to change their working environment or job at any time," Lee said, explaining the reason that the modern working class is in a perpetual state of stress over job security.

For the 83 percent of the respondents to the survey who said they sensed the possibility of losing their present job, Lee advised them to think over the connection between their work positions and the development of the industries they work at, re-evaluate their employment advantages, and try to increase their professional knowledge and sharpen their skill set.

The survey received 1,132 valid samples, and had a margin of error of plus and minus 2.91 percentage points.

Taichung Remembers Rana Plaza Tragedy

Taichung Remembers Rana Plaza Tragedy

April 20, 2015• 7:00 PM

Belling's Deli & Bar• 81 Taiyuan Rd. Sec. 1, Taichung, Taiwan 406

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This event is part of the Global Day of Action to remember Rana Plaza. Learn what you can do to help by attending the taIWWan Industrial Workers of the World meeting Monday evening 7pm

Pay laws talks stall in legislature - At least two labor proposals generate cross-party support

Pay laws talks stall in legislature

By Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, center, Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Hsi-shan, left, and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao discuss the four pay raise laws at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

Laws aimed at addressing long-term problems of low wages and wage stagnation have stalled in the legislature.

Three of the “four laws for pay raises” proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus were up for discussion yesterday, but met opposition from groups representing industries and commercial enterprises, and were pulled from the agenda by the legislature’s new political alliance for cross-party negotiation.

The amendments proposed to the Company Act (公司法), the Factory Act (工廠法), the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act (中小企業發展條例) — dubbed the “four laws for pay raises” — involve reducing working hours and requiring businesses to allocate a percentage of their profits to employees in the form of bonuses or dividends.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday that the main point is to “have corporations and workers benefit together,” but stressed that while corporations should treat their employees better, “regulating [better treatment] might deserve a second thought.”

Lawmakers had scheduled to pass three of the four amendments in yesterday’s legislative floor meeting, but the newly formed caucus “New Legislative Alliance” — consisting of two People First Party (PFP) legislators, one former KMT lawmaker, who withdrew from the party and formed a new political party earlier this year, and a lawmaker with no party affiliation — on Thursday night called for cross-party negotiations over the bills, thereby halting their passage.

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act was not discussed because it is pending further cross-party negotiations.

PFP Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔), the caucus secretary-general of the new alliance, said they doubted that the proposed amendments would be able to grant substantial benefits to workers and demanded clearer definitions be thrashed out on how the raises would be substantiated.

While the alliance claimed that it pulled the bills from the agenda to ensure the amended laws would be effective in benefiting workers, the postponement has for the time being served the end of another group of protesters.

Seven industry and business groups, including the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce and the Taiwan and Chinese National Federation of Industries, voiced their concerns about the proposed changes outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei on Thursday, especially the requirement that businesses need to negotiate with unions over the allocation of the enterprises’ profits or face fines.

Federation secretary-general Tsai Lien-sheng (蔡練生) said during a meeting with Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) that it was not feasible for corporations to negotiate with unions, as the authority to allocate profits is in the hands of boards and shareholders.

“Also, there might be plenty of unions in a corporation, each of which holds a different position on the allocation. It would be unfair to punish companies if negotiations fail,” he added.

Tsai said that if the environment to invest becomes unfriendly, “industries would have no choice but to leave Taiwan.”

After the meeting, the Executive Yuan released a statement saying that the two sides have “come to a consensus over amendments requiring two days off work each week and the principle of sharing profits with workers.”
Regarding the cap on working hours, it said it would keep the “40 hours a week” rather than the “80 hours every two weeks” advocated by the business groups, but “remains open to a cap on overtime.”

At least two labor proposals generate cross-party support

Staff writer, with CNA

Tue, Apr 21, 2015 - Page 3

Lawmakers across party lines expect swift approval on Friday for amendments to two out of the four acts aimed at encouraging the private sector to reduce working hours and raise wages for employees.

The proposed amendments to the Company Act (公司法), the Factory Act (工廠法), the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act (中小企業發展條例) would bring wage increases to employees by requiring firms to establish profit-sharing programs.

Two proposed amendments — one to the Company Act calling for businesses to allocate a lump sum or percentage of earnings toward profit-sharing programs, and another to the Factory Act requiring profitable companies to distribute earnings to employees — are expected to spark the least dissent, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.

Therefore, they could be approved on Friday, Lai added.

Meanwhile, businesses said that the proposed amendments to the Labor Standards Act, which would levy fines of up to NT$5 million (US$160,761) on firms that fail to establish profit-sharing, is likely to create standoffs and rifts between employers and employees.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said however that although the opposition party supports the move, it has lingering concerns on the proposed amendments to the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act.

Legislators said that the amendments to the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act are likely to see the most difficulty in getting approved.

The proposal stipulates that following six consecutive months in which the unemployment rate has remained under 3.78 percent, companies would be able to claim 130 percent of the amount of raises given to their employees as deductible expenses on their taxes. However, the deductible amount excludes raises that come from minimum-wage adjustments.