Ministries outline workplace sexual harassment responsibilities

Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) The Ministry of Labor (MOL) and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) recently outlined 12 scenarios where employers must take action in response to an employee being sexually harassed by a member of the public.

Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛), director of the MOL's Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment, told CNA that while the Gender Equality in Employment Act regulates harassment by employees, harassment against employees by third parties is covered by the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act.

Many kinds of sexual harassment against employees by members of the public can be difficult for employers to investigate, Huang said, making it necessary for the ministries to outline the 12 interpretive cases covered under the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act.

These include workers of public transport services being harassed by passengers on their post, medical staff harassed by patients or their families at medical institutions, personal care attendants harassed by the recipients of their services or their families, or security guards harassed by residents, delivery people or visitors.

Verbal or text abuse of customer service operators or social media managers is also considered harassment under the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act, Huang added.

Huang said employers must provide counseling, medical assistance, and other forms of support to employees in these scenarios.

However, Wu Tzu-ying (吳姿瑩), executive secretary of the civil society group Modern Women's Foundation, told CNA that it would be better if the existing regulations in the Gender Equality in Employment Act were clarified, as the ministries' interpretations may not be accepted by a court.

Wu also expressed concerns that clearly defined cases of sexual harassment may also mislead employers to believe that they would not need to step up prevention measures because administrative powers have already stepped in.

Employers should be provided with more education on their responsibilities to prevent this, Wu added.

(By Wu Hsin-yun and Wu Kuan-hsien)

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