The Cabinet approved a draft amendment to the Labor Standards Act Wednesday that will increase workers’ overtime pay.
Labor Minister Kuo Fang-yu said that the Cabinet has taken the views of people of all walks of society while drafting the amendment. He said the amendment will guarantee workers at least two days off every seven days, and that it will increase their overtime pay.
“We had originally planned to double overtime pay in our first draft, but now we’ve made overtime pay even higher. In the future, workers will earn 2.34 times their hourly wage for the first two overtime hours, and 2.67 times that from the third overtime hour on. Therefore, this [draft] will increase people’s income," said Kuo.
Kuo said the labor ministry will also use its inspection mechanism in order to ensure that all employers abide by the act and pay their workers the properly for overtime.