| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 勞工關係學系暨研究所 === 103 === It has been 31 years since the enactment of Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act. Although Article 28 regulated the priority of creditor rights of workers to receive their remaining amounts owed to them as well as the scope of arrear wage payment system, yet due to the priority sequence of tax and mortgage rights before the creditor rights of workers and the high limitations on the arrear payment system, the contents were criticized by different circles. The amendment of Labor Standards Act promulgated on February 4, 2015 regulates the creditor rights of the workers shall be regarded equal to the creditor rights of those with mortgage rights, pledges or liens of the top priority as well as the expanded scope to include pensions in the old retirement system and severance pay required by the old and new system at the accumulated amount of the average six-month wages. This study based on the change of the priority of the creditor rights of the workers examines whether “the top priority of compensation and right of pursuit”of the Labor Standards Act guarantee the creditor rights of the workers as well as the related impacts of the expanded scope of Arrear Wage Payment Fund on the government, workers, employers, and banks as the evaluation for whether the creditor rights of the workers shall be regarded equal to the creditor rights of those with mortgage rights, pledges or liens of the top priority.
This study adopts “purposive sampling” as well as semi-structural qualitative interviews to investigate experts and scholars, administrative and legislative departments, and business representatives in the field of Labor Standard Act. This study finds the strict and excessive limitations imposed on “the priority of the creditor rights of workers” in the old version of Labor Standards Act as well as the scope of “the Arrear Wage Payment Fund.” Second, the amended Act has the relevant impacts on each stakeholder including the concerns such as transfer of employers’ costs to the workers, tightened financing of banks and the application of equator principles, moral risks, and bad debts in the Fund that need to be proved further after future implementation.
This study also discovers that there should be limitation on the protection of the rights of workers. We still need to consider the balance relationship between “national polices” and “the public welfare.” The creditor rights of workers should not be the first priority in terms of solvency. In particular, the concession of tax payment affects the operation of a nation state, defense and military power, the economy, and the infrastructure building.Furthermore, the social insurance fee rate needs to be adjusted and precisely calculated due to the change of payment structure and scope expansion or there will be no sufficient financial resources.
This study suggests that in order to prevent the employers from not paying salaries, pensions, and severance and deferring the payment responsibilities to the Arrear Wage Payment Fund, the Ministry of Labor should enact rules and regulations to precisely calculate the wage payment owed and paid to workers through the Fund periodically and it is suggested to refer to the annual precision calculation work done under the US system to accurately predict the long-term solvency of the Fund. At the same time, the whistleblower mechanism of arrear wage payment system should be developed to fully safeguard the creditor rights of workers.
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