TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following public outrage over its mistreatment of a cleaning lady that left her with no pension, online retail platform books.com.tw, also known as Pok'elai (博客來), settled the dispute by agreeing to pay her 21-years’ worth of benefits.
The case gained public attention when Lawyer Chen You-xin (陳又新) posted about the case on his Facebook page on Friday (Dec. 23) in which he accused the company of taking advantage of his client, surnamed Lee (李). Though Lee’s employment agreement defined her as a contractor and deprived her of employees’ benefits, Chen said, “Over the past 20 years, she had to clock in and out like other permanent employees, worked under tight supervision, and took days off according to company policy, which completely violates the nature of a contractor.”
In response to the backlash, Pok’elai’s parent company, President Chain Store Corporation, removed the bookstore’s general manager Jiang Cheng-shin (江呈欣) and launched an internal investigation. By Saturday afternoon (Dec. 24), Pok’elai had settled the dispute with Lee.
UDN cited Lee as saying in a voice recording that the company will compensate her with 21-years’ worth of pension payments that she earned. She thanked the public and the company.
President Chain Store Corporation attorney Charlies Liu (劉韋廷) called the incident “a miscommunication between the two parties,” according to UDN. He said the company’s staff paid Lee and her family a visit to show its sincerity and offered two compensation options, one that met legal requirements and one that included extra reparations.
Lee chose the former option, but the amount of compensation she will receive was not disclosed. She reportedly said her intention in pursuing the case was not to gain a fortune, which was why she opted to just receive what she is legally entitled to.
Liu said Lee is currently considering whether to return to the company to continue her work. If she does, she will be employed directly by Pok’elai.
The case gained so much attention that the Ministry of Labor (MOL) issued a statement to say it does not condone businesses abusing the different types of employment contracts to avoid their legal obligations. It added that it would ask the local government to investigate and issue penalties according to regulations.
Meanwhile, the Taipei City Government Department of Labor said it did not receive any reports about the case but will investigate the situation on Monday (Dec. 26) to see if any legal violations occurred.
