Taiwan: Young Fast accepts fines for labor violation

Source: The China Post, 13 April 2010.

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Young Fast Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of small to medium-sized touch panel sensor (TPS) products, promised yesterday to review and improve employment policies after being accused of violating labor regulations.

Led by labor unions, company employees staged protests accusing the management of assigning students hired by the company to the night shift and forcing them to work more than eight hours per day.

Young Fast, founded in 1999 with headquarters in Taoyuan County, said the company heeded the request from employees who asked the company to give their children the job opportunities and enable them to learn professional skills under the “industry-education cooperation” project.

But the managers could have neglected the issue concerning working hours when striving to fill the orders placed by customers.

The firm said it accepted a penalty in the form of a fine meted out by the Taoyuan County Government for the negligence and will humbly review policies concerning other complaints raised by the union leaders,

Corporate labor unions charged the company of inappropriately laying off some union leaders. This lead Young Fast to also be fined NT$18,000 and instructed to take remedial measures.

In addition, the unions said that the company's management has also violated other labor regulations, including illegally replacing local workers with foreign laborers, underreporting the workers' wages for insurance policies, and requiring employees to work for time longer than the overtime limit stipulated in labor rules.

Officials at the Council of Labor Affairs said they have been working with the labor department of the county government to examine and verify all the charges filed by the labor unions to safeguard the workers' rights and interests.

Officials at the Ministry of Education said they will suspend Young Fast's program to hire students for the “industry-education cooperation” project if the company is guilty of violating the rules.

In addition to factories in Taiwan, Young Fast also maintains production in China and Vietnam to manufacture touch panel sensor products for mobile phones, PDAs, GPS devices, and other consumer electronic devices produced by companies in Taiwan and abroad.