TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Ministry of Labor (MOL) official was dismissed on Wednesday (Nov. 20) for abusive behavior toward her subordinates, including a civil servant who committed suicide at work.
The MOL convened a performance review committee to investigate allegations of bullying by the deceased employee's superior Hsieh I-jung (謝宜容), the Work Development Agency's (WDA) northern regional office director. The MOL issued Hsieh two major demerits and terminated her employment.
WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良), received one major demerit and Labor Minister Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) removed him from his supervisory role. Lee Yen-ling (李燕玲), deputy director of the northern regional office, received two warnings and Liu Li-li (劉麗利), the office's chief secretary, received one minor demerit.
On Nov. 4, the body of a 39-year-old employee surnamed Wu (吳) was found in the Cabinet's Xinzhuang Joint Office Tower in New Taipei. Wu was the sole full-time staff member managing large caseloads of migrant workers in an online employment system and often worked late hours without overtime pay.
Hsieh's subordinates reported that she had an inappropriate management style and was prone to emotional outbursts when dissatisfied with their performance. She also would require staff to promptly respond to her Line messages after work hours and on holidays.
On Monday, Ho said an investigation had ruled out Hsieh's bullying directly led to Wu's death, per UDN. Instead, she believed Wu took his life because of the heavy workload, high stress, and lack of sufficient resources to provide support.
Those experiencing thoughts of suicide should immediately seek help by calling the Taiwan Suicide Prevention Center at 1925, or the Taiwan Lifeline International at 1995. Foreign residents can call the Community Services Center at 02-2836-8134 (business hours) or 0932-594-578 (after hours).
