4-day workweek petition gains threshold for Taiwan government response

每週工作4天制請願獲得台灣政府回應的門檻

Petition calling for cutting work hours to 30-35 per week also passes threshold


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Petitions calling for a four-day workweek and shorter weekly working hours have both passed the required threshold for a government response.

The first petition, which was posted on the National Development Council's Public Policy Online Participation Platform, calls on the Taiwanese government to, "Make Taiwan the first country in Asia to have a three-day weekend." The petition pointed out that although Taiwan's average annual total working hours per person dropped to 2,000 hours, the lowest in history, the country still ranks fourth in this category.

The petition cited an experiment conducted in the U.K. last month in which more than 2,900 employees at 61 companies worked four days per week. Over the course of the experiment, company revenues increased by 35% compared with the same period in previous years. The turnover rate of employees also decreased by 57% and as many as 92% of the participating companies were willing to continue to implement the three-day weekly break.

It has gained 5,736 signatures, surpassing the minimum 5,000 mark needed for a government response by June 26.

The second petition calls for an amendment to Article 30 of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) to reduce daily working hours to 6-7 and cut weekly work hours down to 30-35. The petitioner argued that many people in Taiwan spend at least 40 minutes commuting on average, and if they encounter traffic jams, this could take longer.

In addition, families with children in school spend extra time dealing with logistics, while housework is also time consuming, wrote the petitioner.

The petition then listed an example of a company that has working hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour of rest without pay in the middle of the day, but usually, it's impossible to take the full hour off with so many assigned tasks. Therefore, employees work a minimum of nine hours per day, but commuting to and from work adds at least one more hour and if overtime is included, it may exceed 12 hours per day.

The petition garnered 5,140 signatures and now requires a government response by July 2.

On Monday (May 15), Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛), director of the Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment under the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said a four-day workweek scheme would not only impact workers but also military, public sector, and schools, reported CNA. Huang said that discussions will be held to evaluate the proposal, determine which ministries would be affected, and present a government response to the petition before June 16.

Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) was cited by TVBS as saying on Monday that the proposed systems can enable the society to innovate. However, he said that presently no country in Asia has promoted a policy of a three-day weekend.