Over 3,000 Employees on Unpaid Leave, Highest in 3 Years|無薪假人數暴增逾3千人創近3年新高

發布時間：2018/10/17 16:37 更新時間：2018/10/17 17:37

Jake Chen

3,490 people were forced to take unpaid leave by mid October, the highest number in 3 years. The Ministry of Labor said the sudden increase is mostly caused by one automobile manufacturer, which put more than 2,000 employees on leave after it was affected by lukewarm performance in the sector.

The vehicle's body is being welded and painted, before engines and other parts are installed. This is Kuozui Motors, a local company in Taoyuan City that serves as Toyota's assembly line. The company recently set a new record as the quickest Taiwanese company to have assembled 2 million vehicles. However, there have been rumors that the company began to put employees on unpaid leave in September and October. It was later confirmed that the company had reduced the number of working hours for some employees, while paying only partial wages.

It's not just the employees from these two companies from the vehicle parts manufacturing sector, more and more workers have told us that the companies have put them on unpaid leave. It doesn't matter if the companies pay their employees only 30 percent, 50 percent or 70 percent of their full wages, it's just a different kind of unpaid leave.

According to the statistics from the labor ministry, from January to September, the number of employees on unpaid leave per month never exceeded 500. However, by the middle of October, a total of 19 companies have put 3,490 employees on unpaid leave. The number is 7.2 times that of the previous month, and the highest in three years.

The main contributor to the new number is one company that put more than 2,000 employees on unpaid leave.

The Ministry of Labor stressed that the sudden increase in employees on unpaid leave is mostly caused by one company, and is not a general trend. However, academics are concerned that, as the economy continues to decline and concerns over the US-China trade war increase, the number of employees on unpaid leave will continue to increase.

In other words, if the US-China trade war leads to massive decrease in demand, especially in the manufacturing sector, any fluctuation will lead to reduced needs for labor. I think employers will start by putting employees on unpaid leave, instead of laying them off.

The academic said that the financial crisis in 2008 had major impact on all sectors, and the total number of employees on unpaid leave during the period exceeded 200,000. Many companies reduced the employees' work hours. The Ministry of Labor stresses, on the other hand, that the employers are not allowed to put employees on unpaid leave without first reaching an agreement. Such act is considered the same type of violation as not paying full wages, and can be subject to fines of between NT$ 20,000 to NT$ 1 million.