Layoff regulations tightened, revised to cover contract employees

Current rules require that firms provide employees advanced notice of any mass layoff plans and establish formal negotiation channels between management and labor representatives.

The proposed revisions would extend the requirement to include contract workers, or employees with work contracts for a fixed period, who represent 20 percent, or 2 million, of Taiwan’s workforce.

Specifically, the revised regulations require that negotiations include employee representatives personally affected by the layoffs, while negating the previous requirement that third-party negotiators be confined to employees, managers or board of directors.

According to Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) Chairman Lu Tien-lin, who presented the recommendations to Premier Chang Chun-hsiung during this week’s Cabinet meeting, the amendments will promote harmony between labor and management during negotiations and facilitate win-win solutions by allowing a neutral third-party representative to join in the mediations.

To prevent malicious closures and other schemes by firms to illegally terminate employees, the revised law will prohibit employers from significantly changing employees’ job duties or working locations. Firms must also allow employees to leave ahead of the layoff schedule and pay all applicable severance and retirement pension packages in full.

As an additional measure of employee protection, the amended law will place travel restrictions on employers if (a) the number of employees who initiate to terminate their labor contracts surpasses a set ratio of the firm’s total workforce or (b) the overdue salaries payable reach a set ratio.

The CLA explained that foreign workers will not be included under the protections of the revised law based on the reasoning that foreign workers can more easily find new employment opportunities than their local counterparts.

The revisions will be sent to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation and ratification.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email