Labor minister under growing pressure over worker suicide

Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) Taiwan's Labor Minister Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) was grilled by lawmakers on Wednesday over her handling of an incident in which a civil servant killed himself at work, while the case has been referred to supervisory and judicial branches for separate investigations.

Ho wept repeatedly as she was questioned by members of the Legislature's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee which announced it had asked the Control Yuan and the Disciplinary Court to separately look into the case.

At the Legislative Yuan, opposition lawmakers criticized Ho for being too lenient on Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), a regional branch chief of the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) who has been widely accused of bullying the deceased civil servant and others, leading lawmakers to call for Hsieh to be suspended.

On Tuesday Ho said she would consider disciplining Hsieh, who heads the WDA's northern regional branch, and transferring her to another department. Since then there has been speculation about whether Hsieh would resign.

In response, Hsieh told CNA via a social media message on Wednesday: "I am not resigning."

At Wednesday's legislative hearing, Ho said "I don't have the authority to immediately suspend Hsieh Yi-jung," adding that she had ordered her subordinate to undergo a performance review which could result in Hsieh's suspension.

Under Taiwan's public service system, any disciplinary measures against ranking officials can not take effect until they are approved by the performance review committee of the competent authority.

Ho reiterated that, as head of the ministry, she accepted "responsibility" for the incident, but argued that "the civil service system has many challenges" that are "difficult to control."

When asked by opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Liao Wei-hsiang (廖偉翔) whether she would be willing to resign to "take political responsibility" for the incident, Ho answered: "Yes."

However, the minister said she had not submitted her resignation to Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). Cho's office confirmed that he had not received a resignation letter from the minister.

Speaking to reporters at the Legislative Yuan later Wednesday, Cho issued a public apology and confirmed that the case has been transferred to the judicial authorities.

"All heads of ministries and departments should take this incident as a warning," the premier said, adding that "bullying must not be tolerated again."

The day before, Ho's ministry held a press conference and issued a report on the findings of an internal investigation into the death of a worker earlier this month that concluded Hsieh's "management style" and "control over her emotions" -- while "inappropriate" -- were "not the direct cause" of the civil servant's death.

Instead, Ho told the press that day, the "main reason" was an "excessive workload," "too much stress," and a "lack of support resources."

Ho said on Tuesday that Hsieh, WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良), and two other supervisors in the department would face performance reviews, which were ongoing as of press time Wednesday.

The ministry launched an internal investigation after the body of the 39-year-old worker, identified by his surname Wu (吳), was discovered inside the ministry's office at the Executive Yuan's Xinzhuang Joint Office Tower in New Taipei on Nov. 4, with speculation on social media platform Threads that workplace bullying had driven him to take his own life.

If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the 1925, 1995 or 1980 hotlines in Taiwan for counseling or assistance.