A lawmaker is writing an amendment which would require companies to use a portion of their profits to give employees pay raises.
A lawmaker with the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), Lai Shyr-bao, organized a hearing for the amendment on Friday. He suggested revising the Company Act so that in the future, employees will be able to reap the benefits of corporate earnings.
Lai said government statistics show that pay increases for employees over the past three years have lagged behind the economic growth rate. He said, therefore, a proportion of corporate earnings should be allocated to raise salaries.
Economics Minister John Deng responded by saying that the government agrees with the direction of the law change. But he said that he does not think the guarantee should be written into law.
"If bonuses for employees are listed as salaries rather than as a distribution of earnings, the allocated proportion should be written into a company’s articles of association, rather than into the law, because that would interfere with a company’s autonomy," said Deng.
Labor Minister Chen Hsiung-wen has voiced his support for the amendment.