Ministry of Labor: Labor and Management Representatives Must Attend Meetings in Person, No Proxies Allowed

(Central News Agency Reporter Wu Hsin-yun, Taipei, July 7) Business entities are legally required to convene labor-management meetings. The Ministry of Labor today amended its guidelines, stipulating that both labor and management representatives must attend meetings in person and cannot delegate proxies. If the quorum is not met, the meeting must be postponed.

According to Article 83 of the Labor Standards Act, to coordinate labor relations and promote cooperation to improve work efficiency, business entities shall hold labor-management meetings in accordance with the "Labor-Management Meeting Implementation Rules." If a business entity has a company union, the labor representatives for the labor-management meeting must be elected by the union members or a congress of their representatives.

The Ministry of Labor established the "Notes on Convening Labor-Management Meetings" in 2019 as a practical reference for both parties when holding these meetings. Wang Hou-wei, Director-General of the Ministry of Labor's Department of Labor Relations, stated today that the convening of labor-management meetings should keep pace with the times, and therefore the guidelines have been amended to facilitate smoother meetings.

Wang Hou-wei explained that to improve the election operations and representation mechanisms of labor-management meetings, the rules stipulate that labor representative elections should be conducted during working hours. When the number of workers in a business entity increases, the competent authority may urge the business entity to adjust the number of labor and management representatives. If a video conference is held online, attendees must use the same names as those on the registered list for the labor-management meeting to facilitate identification of meeting personnel.

Wang Hou-wei also mentioned that this amendment explicitly states that if a workplace has 30 or more workers, it must hold its own separate labor-management meeting and cannot merge with other business entities or workplaces. The purpose is to allow employers to better understand the voices of the workers in each workplace.

Regarding the time and frequency of meetings, Wang Hou-wei said that labor-management meetings should be held with "regularity" and "predictable timing." Business entities can set their own fixed meeting cycles, such as every 3 months or less than 3 months. Once the cycle is established, employers must hold at least one meeting within that cycle.

Concerning labor and management representatives, Wang Hou-wei stated that both parties' representatives must attend meetings in person and cannot delegate proxies. Before the meeting, the chairperson must confirm whether the number of representatives attending from each side has reached a majority before announcing the start of the meeting. If the attendance threshold is not met, a new meeting date must be set to ensure the validity of the resolutions.

Wang Hou-wei reminded that business entities, regardless of size, should hold and regularly convene labor-management meetings in accordance with the law, allowing for regular dialogue and communication between labor and management. The Ministry of Labor has already included the convening of labor-management meetings as one of the review items for business entities applying for initial public offering (listing/over-the-counter trading) and for hiring foreign workers. Business entities are reminded to hold labor-management meetings in accordance with the relevant regulations and guidelines. (Editor: Li Heng-shan) 1150707

Stand with facts, your every contribution is a force to protect press freedom

Download the CNA "One-Stop News" APP for real-time updates

This website's text, images, and videos may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or used without authorization.