TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Labor Minister Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) announced Monday (Nov. 24) that the government continues actively gathering diverse opinions on a controversial three-day weekend proposal. The citizen-initiated proposal submitted on the public policy platform (公共政策網路參與平臺) garnered significant support from over 5,700 people nationwide. The proposal officially passed Oct. 7 and legally requires a comprehensive government response by the Dec. 7 deadline.
Hung emphasized the critical need for comprehensive evaluation due to significantly diverse opinions among Taiwanese businesses and workers during a POP Radio interview. He specifically stated that different workers have completely different views, and companies of varying sizes have distinctly different ideas about the proposal. The minister strongly highlighted the crucial importance of thoroughly understanding these diverse perspectives before making any major policy decisions.
Hung specifically mentioned the Labor Ministry's comprehensive decade-long effort to systematically raise the minimum wage as a strategic measure directly addressing persistent long working hours. He noted that this important initiative specifically aims to alleviate the pressing need for low-wage workers to heavily rely on overtime for adequate income. The minister acknowledged workers' legitimate desire for shorter working hours and assured that the ministry will continue collecting valuable feedback to formulate appropriate policies.
The public policy platform, officially known as the JOIN platform, was established by Taiwan's National Development Council (國家發展委員會) on Feb. 10, 2015, to facilitate meaningful government-citizen interaction. It allows citizens and residents to propose and support public policy initiatives, which automatically become official proposals if they successfully gather over 5,000 endorsements within 60 days. The government must respond within 60 days after a proposal becomes official, strictly following the guidelines of the Directions for Implementing Online Participation in Public Policy (公共政策網路參與實施要點). ◼
