Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Working more than six days in a row will become illegal beginning in 
August, the Ministry of Labor announced Wednesday.
The measure was the latest decision in the discussion surrounding working hours for the island’s labor force. A total of 8.5 million employees falling under the Labor Standards Act could benefit from the new measure, reports said.
Employers breaking the new rule could face fines ranging from NT$20,000 (US$619) to NT$300,000 (US$9,280). The MOL decision will end a practice rooted in a 1986 ruling by the Ministry of Interior, which said there should be one day off for each seven working days, but which allowed 12 working days to be pooled, with the free days coming before and after that period.
Recently, an employee of the 7-Eleven convenience store rebelled against a management requirement for him to work eight days in a row, and he made the news by asking a police officer to take his place. The employee accused his employer of violating the Labor Standards Act by making him work so long without any days off. [FULL STORY]
