• Last updated:2021-11-03

Quarterly Focus

• Moment of Truth: 808 Competitors Compete at the National Skills Competition

  After intensive and rigorous competition among 808 competitors from all over Taiwan, the 44th National Skills Competition and 43rd WorldSkills Qualification Competition have generated a total of 253 finalists in 47 skills since their commencement on July 31, 2014. An award ceremony and closing ceremony was held on August 17 at the Regent Taipei Hotel. Finalists in 39 WorldSkills Competition skills will compete in the national team qualification contest on September 12 for an opportunity to represent Taiwan at the 43rd WorldSkills Competition held in São Paulo, Brazil next year and obtain an even higher honor.

Policies & Regulations

• Promoting a Legal Basis for Labor Education

  According to statistical data from this Ministry, approximately 11 million people (half the population) are currently employed in Taiwan. Though not everyone is engaged in actual labor, everyone relies on the contributions and services provided by workers in their everyday lives. Despite this, the public lacks awareness on workers' due rights and obligations. As a result, labor disputes and accidents at work continue. Labor education gets at the root of this problem, enabling workers, employers, and students to internalize and value the concepts of labor rights, decent work, work ethics, and labor regulations. Education can enable the public to amply embody the value of labor and understand the role that each side – worker and manager – ought to play. Then, with mutual respect and cooperation, a balance between the rights and interests of workers and employers can be established. This will reduce the cost bare on employers in abiding by the law and compensating for damages, and in turn, create a situation beneficial to both workers and employers. On this basis, the Ministry of Labor has drafted the Labor Education Promotion Act, which is under review at the Executive Yuan.

• Strengthening the Protection of Equal Rights in the Workplace and Amending Regulations to Expand the Scope of Child Labor Protection

  The Ministry of Labor spares no efforts to promote gender equality in the workplace. After many years of awareness education and implementation, according to data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Taiwan's average female labor participation rate reached 50.46% in 2013. In addition, Taiwan's gender wage gap is shrinking gradually, and is smaller than that of the United States, Japan, and Korea. This shows that efforts to promote female employment and eliminate obstacles to employment are slowly but surely producing results. On June 18, 2014, the amended articles of the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (henceforth referred to as "this Act") were promulgated for implementation by Presidential decree. Main points to the amendment are as follows:

• New Appraisal System for Overseas Chinese and Foreign Students Remaining in Taiwan to Work announced on July 3, 2014; accepting applications for employment permits

  The Executive Yuan's Action Plan to Keep Outstanding Foreign and Overseas Chinese Students in Taiwan to Work seeks to enrich the country's workforce in three key ways: “nurture talent, retain talent, and recruit talent.” In view of the government's substantial yearly expenditure on educating overseas Chinese and foreign students, it should devise a way to retain and employ the talented students in which it has trained, in order to promote business and national competitiveness. On July 1, 2014, the Ministry of Labor issued an amendment to “Qualifications and Criteria Standards for foreigners undertaking the jobs specified under Article 46.1.1 to 46.1.6 of the Employment Service Act,” Inserting new provision that foreign or overseas Chinese students that graduated from a public or privately-registered university- level or above school in Taiwan, in addition to meeting the requirements of the Standards, have scored a total of 70 or more points on their appraisal will be eligible for employment in a specialized or technical field, and will not be subject to the limitations concerning the qualifications of foreigners seeking employment, stated in Article 5 of the aforementioned Standards.

• Assistive measures to promote employment and vocational training in the aftermath of the Kaohsiung petrochemical gas explosion disaster

  On the night of July 31, 2014, Kaohsiung City suffered a fatal disaster brought about by a series of accidental gas explosions. The Workforce Development Agency of the Ministry of Labor swiftly announced assistive measures relating to employment services and vocational training, to help victims of the disaster rebuild their homes and communities with greater confidence and ease.

News Outlook

• Occupational Safety and Health Act Adds Severe Injury Occupation Accident Reporting, Bringing Severe Injury Cases into the Scope of In-depth Service

   

  Occupational Safety and Health Act Adds Severe Injury Occupation Accident Reporting, Bringing Severe Injury Cases into the Scope of In-depth Service

  The amended Occupational Safety and Health Act entered into force on July 3, 2014, stipulating the necessity of immediate rehabilitation for workers suffering from severe injuries or disabilities. According to the new provision, in the event of occupational accident(s) that involves more than one person at the workplace of business entity and resulting in amputation or serious damage to the organ(s), life threatening or serious loss of bodily function(s), and hospitalization continuously for more than 24 hours, the employer is required to report such accident(s) to a labor inspection agency. If a report is not filed according to regulations, the employer is subject to a penalty of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 in accordance with Article 43 of the same Act.

   

• Labor Fund Performance Steadily Improves

  This year (2014), though global economy maintained steady growth, financial markets continued to face a variety of challenges in the political and economic scenes. From the US Federal Reserve's Quantitative Easing and raising interest rates to the banking crisis in Portugal and Argentina debt default, many issues have affected investors' confidence on the market. The recent Russia-Ukraine crisis and conflict in Gaza drastically increased the level of geopolitical risk, exacerbating the volatility in the global stocks and bonds market.

• “Ten MillionInsured,TrillionProtected” – Presentation of Performance

  To celebrate the 64th anniversary and the number of people insured by Labor Insurance exceeding 10 million for the first time since the launching of Labor Insurance in 1950, the Bureau of Labor Insurance held a celebration themed “Ten million insured, Trillion Protected” at the GIS MOTC International Convention Center on August 19, 2014, and presented the remarkable achievement of Labor Insurance in protecting ten million individuals.

• Source:Department of General Planning
• Publication Date:2014-04-30
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