HOLIDAYS:Workers’ groups blasted the ministry’s ‘one fixed day and one flexible day off’ proposal, saying businesses would find a loophole to take advantage of workers
Taipei Times
Date: Jun 09, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
The minimum hourly pay could be raised to NT$126 in September at the earliest and a controversial amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) regarding regular weekly days off could be put to a vote, Minister of Labor Kuo Fan-yu (郭芳煜) said yesterday.
The basic wage review committee is to be convened next month and if, no objections are raised, the minimum hourly wage could be increased from NT$120 to NT$126 in September, Kuo said during a legislative session yesterday.
He added that the ministry would lead by example and stop recruiting temporary workers starting next year, while its agencies would follow suit by decreasing the number of temporary employees by 3 percent every year.
Regarding controversial amendments to the Labor Standards Act that call for reducing national holidays by seven days to implement a 40-hour workweek, the ministry has proposed introducing “one fixed day and one flexible day off” to ensure that workers are granted two days off per week and compensated for lost holidays. [FULL STORY]