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On 10 December 2002, the Legislative Yuan adopted amendments to the provisions of the Labor Standards Law (LSL) that govern working hours. The main points are as follows:
To enable fragmented working hours to be used together so as to resolve shift scheduling difficulties, and to allow greater flexibility in working hours for businesses whose average weekly working hours do not exceed 40, amended articles provide that with the consent of the labor union or a labor-management meeting, an employer may appropriately ad-just normal (i.e. non-overtime) working hours over a certain period in accordance with the needs of the business and of its workers, on condition that the daily and weekly working hours provisions are not violated. New pro-visions are also added allowing flexible working hours over eight-week and one-year periods.
The provisions of Article 30 with regard to labor-management consultation mechanisms are amended. In industries designated by the central competent authority (i.e. the Council of Labor Affairs), an employer can now change working hours arrangements with the consent of the labor union or of a worker-management meeting, instead of the labor union or a majority of employees as before.
The conditions and procedures for extended working hours (overtime) are simplified so that an employer may extend working hours with the consent of the labor union or a worker-management meeting. The rules gov-erning extended working hours for both sexes are also unified. The total of normal working hours plus extended working hours may not exceed 12 hours on any one day, and extended working hours may not exceed 46 hours in any one month.
To promote gender equality in employment, the provisions restricting women's night work have been modified. The amendment pro-vides that with the consent of the labor union or a labor-management meeting, female workers may work at night if an employer provides necessary safety and hygiene facili-ties, and provides transport or arranges dor-mitory accommodation for female workers if no public transport is available; female work-ers may also do night work when it is neces-sary due to natural disaster, emergency or unforeseen circumstances. However, to pro-tect maternity, night work is still forbidden for pregnant and nursing mothers.
