Labor Ministry Inspects Subsidiaries of FAT Airline Boss|遠航掀波勞動部勞檢張綱維名下企業

發布時間：2019/12/17 19:08 更新時間：2019/12/17 19:41

Jake Chen

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted "preventive" finance and labor inspections on Far Eastern Airline Chair Chang Kang-wei's development, sports and entertainment, travel, and construction subsidiaries after the airline decided to halt operations. Nothing abnormal has been discovered. However if the airline cannot resume normal operations, the Ministry of Labor might have to disburse the wage arrears payment fund.

Far Eastern Air Transport suddenly announced last week to halt operations due to long-standing losses and difficulty repaying loans. Since then, the Ministry of Labor has sent workers to conduct "preventive" finance and labor inspections on airline Chair Chang Kang-wei's 12 subsidiaries. It has found that three of the companies are currently not operating, whereas the rest of the companies appear to operate normally. However, one of the subsidiaries in Kaohsiung called Huashe Hotel, would cease before the end of the year and let go of 21 employees.

It remains to be seen how they are going to handle (the layoff of 21 employees). They are still discussing the matter and deciding if the hotel will give employees severance pay or just terminate their contracts.

Whether the airline will resume normal operations won't be clear until Wednesday, December 18. In case the company ceases operation, it will affect the livelihood of 1024 employees. One major concern is whether the Ministry of Labor is aware of the amount of severance pay that FAT needs to provide for the employees.

If the airline decides tomorrow that it would not resume operation, it will face the task of laying off a large number of employees. The Ministry of Labor will need to make sure the company abide by the Act of Worker Protection of Mass Redundancy and clearly report its lay-off plan, as well as conduct negotiations with its employees.

Labor Minister Hsu Ming-Chun did not publish any precise figures, but she did say that, if the labor ministry were to pay the employee severance package for the airline, it would cost anywhere between NT$100 and 200 million. The airline, on the other hand, denied rumors that its CEO Chang Kang-Wei has embezzled NT$2.2 billion from the airline.

The airline is funded solely by Mr. Chang himself. How does he embezzle funds? To take money from his own pocket?

Asked whether the company can pay severance fees for all its employees, the airline responded by saying it does not deal with hypothetical scenarios.

遠航暫時停飛，董事長張綱維包含遠東航空，名下有12家公司，營運狀況是否也是一團亂？勞動部啟動「預警性」勞檢，其中有3家公司沒有實質營運，其餘的公司和遠航各機場營業據點，沒有發現積欠工資或大量解雇等異常情形。但位在高雄的樺舍商旅年底歇業，有21位員工將在年前丟掉飯碗。

勞動部勞動關係司長王厚偉表示：「他們現在到底是要採取什麼方式？是要資遣的方式？還是要合意終止契約？他們現在還在協商當中。」

遠航能否復飛？18號週三才有結果，萬一沒辦法恢復營運，遠航將有1024位員工受到衝擊，外界關心，勞動部有沒有掌握，遠航要給付的資遣費是多少？

勞動部長許銘春表示：「這個事情如果說明天決定的結果，沒有辦法復飛的話，當然這個公司可能會，遠航公司可能會面臨大量解僱的問題，勞動部會立即要，會要求公司要依照大解法的規定，來通報解雇的計畫書，也要開始跟員工進行協商。」

許銘春沒有在記者會上公布數據，但在會後表示，如果勞動部啟動「工資墊償」，預估金額是一到兩億元左右。而面對有週刊報導，張綱維涉嫌掏空遠航22億元，遠航發表聲明反駁。

遠航發言人盧紀融表示：「遠東航空是張綱維一人獨資，要怎麼掏空，難道要掏空自己嗎？」

至於遠航如果不能復飛而倒閉，公司是否發的出資遣費？遠航表示，不做假設性的回答。