Suicide of Labor Ministry Staffer Draws Attention to Gov't Workplace Bullying

TaiwanPlus News

Labor Minister Ho Pei-shan is under fire after a ministry employee died by suicide at the start of the month. Lawmakers have raised questions about whether workplace bullying played a part in the staffer's death.

Transcript

00:00The heat is on for Labour Minister Hou Peishan over the suicide of a ministry employee at

00:05the start of November.

00:06Despite an apology and a pledge to deal with overwork, lawmakers across party lines want

00:11to know what she and her ministry plan to do about workplace bullying.

00:18The ministry itself has found problems in the department where the employee worked,

00:21here at the northern branch of the Workplace Development Agency.

00:25These include illegal 14- and 15-hour workdays, required regularly, covered up with fake

00:29clock-in records.

00:31But it's the boss in charge that has attracted lawmakers' attention, with officials themselves

00:35describing her as abusive.

00:49This boss has been demoted and won't be going back into management.

00:53But some lawmakers aren't satisfied, as an initial ministry review has not found bullying

00:57to be a direct cause of the employee's death.

01:01And at a committee meeting early Wednesday, they had questions about that and other bullying

01:04issues for the Labour Minister.

01:26Other lawmakers pointed to other cases of bullying in government agencies, and said

01:30that complaints are often referred to the same bosses doing the bullying.

01:34Through the questioning, the Labour Minister said the case shows there are problems in

01:37its system, acknowledged bullying, and promised to make improvements.

01:58But Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Lin Shu-Fen says it's not news that bullying

02:02is widespread in Taiwanese workplaces, citing a survey by Job Bank 1111 done last year.

02:09It found 83% of workers had been bullied on the job, and that government workers are among

02:13those worst affected.

02:31It's a question that the Labour Ministry, the very organization charged with labour

02:34rules and their enforcement, will have to face as the fallout from its employee's death

02:38spreads.

02:39Leon Lien and John Ventriest for Taiwan Plus.

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