LABORIOUS DISCUSSIONS: The withdrawal means that the Cabinet’s proposed amendments will have to be voted on during the plenary session with few changes
Taipei Times
Date: Jan 09, 2018
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday unexpectedly withdrew from what had been a
Legislators yesterday wait inside the main chamber of the Legislative Yuan to make speeches during the third reading of a draft bill on amendments to the Labor Standards Act. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
fairly smooth cross-caucus negotiation effort on the Cabinet’s proposed amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).
Following more than 50 hours of hunger strike by NPP lawmakers in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei against the Cabinet’s proposals, the NPP submitted draft amendments that were more or less in line with the Cabinet’s.
The NPP agreed to raise the maximum number of consecutive working days from six to 12 and conditionally lower the minimum rest time between shifts from 11 hours to eight, but added a mechanism that would allow individual employees to refuse to work overtime.
According to the NPP’s new proposals, businesses seeking to raise the maximum number of consecutive working days and lower the rest time between shifts would have to seek approval from its supervising agencies, the Ministry of Labor and the Legislative Yuan as well the respective unions. [FULL STORY]
