TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling called for the establishment of a formula in the Minimum Wage Act to ensure wage adjustments are not lower than the inflation rate on Wednesday (Dec. 6).
Simultaneously, New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih demanded during a separate press conference that representatives from the Ministry of Labor (MOL) be included in the wage deliberation committee and that evaluation reports be made public before meetings.
Lai noted that the Minimum Wage Act took over seven years and three ministers of the MOL to reach the Legislative Yuan, and the current draft by the Executive Yuan has shown little change from the original, with many deficiencies still present.
With only four academic representatives on the wage deliberation committee, Lai expressed concern that future wage adjustments might continue to be conducted through a bidding approach.
Lai advocated for the increase of labor representatives on the committee, and that annual wage adjustments consider factors such as the consumer price index annual increase rate, previous year levels, rent, and employment dependency ratios.
She also pointed out that many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not comply with minimum wage regulations, suggesting such companies should be barred from participating in government tenders.
