Gov't Will Push Five-Day Workweek Comprehensively

Taipei, Sept. 30, 2011 (CENS)--The government will comprehensively push the five-day workweek system, cutting the legal working hours to 80 for two weeks, down from 84 now, by 2016, said President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday (Sept. 29).

The move will benefit 3 million laborers, forcing 45% of domestic enterprises to cut their weekly working hours or pay extra NT$23.3 billion for overtime work a year.

Along with the pushing of five-day workweek, President Ma's administration also rolled out the 10 well-being indexes yesterday. Christina Liu, minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), noted that the ultimate goal for President Ma's 10-year national development vision is to bring local people a sense of well-being. Various government units will formulate the 10 well-being indexes in one year, including education, employment, money making, housing ownership, rearing of young people, caring for senior citizens, security, LOHAS (lifestyle of health and sustainability), equality of wealth, comfortable environment, and competitiveness.

Presently, in Taiwan public functionaries are working five days a week, and around half of domestic enterprises have also embraced the five-day workweek system. Laborers at other enterprises take two days off only every other week. By comparison, Japan and South Korea have implemented five-day workweek comprehensively.

A survey of the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) shows that working hours at 45% of domestic enterprises, with total employment of 3 million, exceed 42 a week. Should the legal working hours be cut to 40 a week, such enterprises will have to lower their working time or offer overtime work pays to their laborers. In the latter case, such enterprises will have to bear extra pay of NT$23.3 billion a year, around 0.66% of the total payroll of domestic enterprises.