March 18: Lawmakers yesterday questioned Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) Minister Jennifer Wang over a report showing that many leading companies have failed to meet the legal quota on hiring physically or mentally disabled workers.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying, citing data published by the council last year, said there was a deficit of 3,226 jobs for disabled workers in the private sector because companies were not complying with the law.

The Physically and Mentally Disabled Citizens Protection Act stipulates that private companies with at least 67 employees must reserve at least 1 percent of the jobs for disabled workers. Companies that fail to do so must pay a fine of NT$17,280 ? the minimum monthly wage for a full-time worker.

Huang said the top 20 companies that failed to comply with the law made up a deficit of 746 jobs, or 23 percent of the total.

Not only were these listed firms, but they included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, AU Optronics and United Microelectronics Corp, she said.

“These well-known companies enjoy many benefits and subsidies from the government, but they can’t even do something as simple as hiring disabled workers,” she told the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee meeting.

Huang said the National Labor Insurance and Labor Pension funds, which choose their target investments based on companies’ commitment to corporate social responsibility, should not put their money in companies that do not hire enough disabled workers.

“Corporate social responsibility” is evaluated using various criteria, and that she would work toward including the companies’ hiring of disabled workers as part of the evaluation, Wang said in response to lawmakers’ questions.

The council said it would set up a database detailing companies’ hiring of disabled workers; however, the official standards of measurement of corporate social responsibility would remain the responsibility of the Financial Supervisory Commission.

Source: http://www.taipeitimes.com