The investigation into the death of a Jinshan District office worker has wrapped up, which shows that the employee had worked more hours than legally allowed for six consecutive months before he died.
In August, a Jinshan District office worker died at home. Death from overwork was the suspected cause. In September, the New Taipei City Government concluded its investigation and ruled the death met "death in the line of duty" conditions. On the 15th, the case was officially ruled death from overwork.
(Overwork guidelines) require over 100 working hours in the month before something happens or over 80 hours per month in the two to six months before something happens. If these conditions are met, the government will pay a funeral allowance and 5-10 months of occupational hazard compensation along with the annual bonus that would have been paid to the deceased.
The Bureau of Labor Insurance reviewed Google maps, office time logs and itineraries and found that Chen Chia-wei was working more hours than legally allowed for the six months before he died. His family has received compensation and a funeral allowance.
I raised Chia-wei from a child to an adult. We only received NT$200,000-plus in death from overwork compensation. In total, we received (around) NT$940,000. Could you raise a child with this amount?
Chen's father says money can't bring his son back but justice has been served. The Jinshan District Office case highlights how prevalent overwork has become among government employees.
(Workers) can't exchange overtime hours worked for paid time off. One thing we know is the majority of civil servants work overtime that is not logged. This problem is not out in the open. We need transparency. We also need changes to the overtime calculation system.
Ho Yun-feng says civil servants regularly work overtime and they can't always get their vacation days because they expire. Ho is calling on labor officials to make relevant changes. New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih says the city will cooperate with the Control Yuan investigation.