Post offices to open 30 minutes later

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Post offices will open 30 minutes later in the mornings beginning July 1 in a move seen as benefiting labor rights, reports said Saturday.
Weekend opening hours for post offices were abolished earlier, but state-run Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd. has now also decided that post offices should open at 8:30 a.m. instead of the current 8 a.m., reports said.
The new hours will go into use on July 1, and will be valid at a total of 1,278 post offices, the company said. The only exceptions are 42 post offices located inside government departments, where the start of operations varies between 7, 8 and 9 a.m. depending on the location, reports said.
While the post company motivates the changes by referring to amendments to the Labor Standards Act which are designed to favor employees, under the new formula postal workers will nevertheless see their lunchtime cut from one hour to just 30 minutes.
There have reportedly been complaints from members of the public who said they would find it difficult under the new opening hours to visit the post office before their own work to send or collect registered mail.
Most post offices will still close at the same time as before, usually at 6 p.m.