Airline staff should be able to take sick leave without repercussions: Labor Ministry

Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) Employees of Taiwan's airlines will not face repercussions in their job performance reviews for taking sick leave, the Ministry of Labor said on Friday, following the death of a young flight attendant who worked even though she was sick.

All six Taiwanese airline companies have agreed not to penalize employees in any way for taking necessary sick leave, said Huang Chi-ya (黃琦雅), head of the Ministry of Labor's Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment, following a meeting with representatives of the airliners.

The agreement comes in the wake of the recent death of an EVA Air flight attendant, who had reportedly been unwell while serving a round-trip flight between Taipei and Milan in late September before passing away on Oct. 10.

Among the concerns raised was that the deceased, a 34-year-old female surnamed Sun (孫), had been afraid to take sick leave before and after the flight, fearing that her pay, job performance review, and other rights would be affected.

According to the Taoyuan Flight Attendant Union, EVA Air had previously implemented a system that discouraged employees from taking sick leave.

Huang said attendees of Friday's meeting reached a consensus that employees should not be pushed to work while sick.

Representatives of the six carriers also agreed not to factor in records of sick leave or menstrual leave when evaluating employees' job performance, she said.

However, Huang did not mention whether any related regulations will be amended by the government, nor did she clarify if Friday's consensus reached applies to all employees or only to flight attendants.