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.
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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.