Close to a quarter, nearly 24.8% office workers in Taiwan are not compensated for working extra hours in excess of their regularly scheduled work hours. These were findings according to a recent survey by an online job broker, 1111 Job Bank.
The survey findings further show that 65% of the employers who participated in the survey have violated the country’s overtime rule under the Labour Standards law.
While 35% of the respondents did receive legally overtime pay, 25% of the workers were paid overtime depending on the situation and 15% were compensated overtime for working on holidays.
On an average, workers who legally received paid-time off or overtime pay have worked 13 overtime hours per month. Daniel Lee, Vice President of 1111 Job Bank stated that the Ministry of Taiwan has stepped up inspections since 2015 to reduce employee burnout.
However, the problems of overwork and overtime with no pay, continues to remain unresolved with employers taking advantage of the legal loopholes – through submission of false timesheets and attendance records for payment of wages, also inspection methods have been ineffective owing to shortage of staffers.
Although shorter working hours seem to be a world trend, regulations laid out by the Ministry of Labour in Taiwan guarantees two days off per week and any overtime done by a worker, such as being present at duties on holidays or working extended hours amount to illegal overtime workings and this should be duly compensated by paid-time off or extra money to the employee.
Lee suggested that workers who find their rights have been violated can file complaints with the authorities.
