Question about Labor Mediation
I decided to take my company to the labor bureau becasue they just flat out decided not to pay me wages for the last month. Today my company actually tried to call me and demanded to reschedule because they couldn’t make it (the mediation was scheduled for tomorrow).
Are they allowed to do this?
If they don’t show up tomorrow, what happens?
Don’t know but it’s up to them to call the labor bureau if they can’t make it.
I assume you don’t work there anymore?
Just show up as usual , will look bad if they didn’t call to reschedule and just didn’t show
What they claim is that they already called the labor bureau to reschedule and the labor bureau told them to call me to see if i was willing to confirm.
The thing is I live in Taipei and I have to go to Taichung to attend the mediation. It’s not exactly easy for me to reschedule since I have to ask for leave, buy HSR tickets, and so on.
So it sounds like you have another job already.
I’d call the labor bureau, let them know what you’ve said here, and if the meeting is still on or not. They should be able to tell you.
If it’s still on I’d go. Get the info from the horses mouth so to speak.
I’d let them know as well that it will be a hardship for you to reschedule.
Have you checked with the labour bureau if that’s true?
It sounds to me like they are trying to trick you into not going so that you lose.
If the labor department does not accept the request to reschedule, either side failing to appear or send an authorized representative should be subject to an administrative penalty.
I second Dan’s advice.
I’d let them know as well that it will be a hardship for you to reschedule.
That should be clear, but I would phrase it more plainly: I have already made arrangements to travel to Taichung for this mediation meeting, and I do not agree with the employer’s request to change the date or time.
Yep. I went there today. I arrived 15 minutes early and someone from the company’s front office, a colleague that I didn’t get along very well with, and the company’s lawyer were already there talking to the mediator.
I highly doubt that three people all with various schedules suddenly changed their mind about being able to meet up at the same place and time.
What was obvious was that the company administration for some reason or another is very much in my co-worker’s “corner” so to speak. The administrator for our company even said that if I wanted to go beyond mediation that they would tie me up in litigation for slandering one of their employees. I don’t know if frivolous litigation works the same way in Taiwan as it does in the states with the whole “emotional distress” bullshit, but it’s something I want no part of.
is it okay to tell the audience here what the outcome was? in/out of your favor, in what way?
I kind of feel that I still got shafted. They claimed that I didn’t get pay for this month because technically I quit, and that I don’t get pay for last month because they’re deducting penalties for lost business and breach of contract.
In the end I got reimbursed only two weeks of vacation pay and that was it. Anything else they refused to give me and said that I’d have to take them to court.
does the labor bureau person help in any of this mediation, or just sit there to make sure no one starts yelling and screaming?
Basically the latter.
I don’t know the details of the case, but that sounds totally off. Did you agree with that? you are not required to come to an agreement in these sessions.
They told me that we had to come to an agreement. And the agreement was that, apparently they were going to claim that basically I had performed my duties so poorly that they lost clients because of it. They threatened that if this went to litigation, that they would countersue me for so much I’d basically never be able to leave Taiwan.
Like I said, they were already in the room at least 15 minutes early and talking things over with the mediator.
Who told you that? there’s no law that says that you have to come to an agreement.
They threated you with that, but they need to back it up. I think they were just trying to scare you. Do you have any of your clients’ emails? Meaning both sent/received emails and also email accounts that you can contact for getting proofs of your version.
Yikes, I’d tell them to bring it and that I’d be countersuing for slandering my name.
But I’m not very surprised over the result, us old-timers might remember a very famous poster here who got shafted at the labour board with them going behind her back and telling her employer that she called to ask a question.
I remember that one:
I think that incident may have been a case of misapplied zeal on the part of the labor board person, rather than malice or taking sides against the foreigner:
Subsequently:
Nothing I’ve posted above is meant to dispute with @dan2006.
Mr. Masala is right: there is no obligation to accept a settlement proposed during mediation. (Mediation is not arbitration.) Whoever advised you was probably either biased in favor of the employer or extremely bad at giving advice.
Was this the actual Taoyuan City Department of Labor, or was it an organization authorized by the city to conduct mediation? Either way, I would consider filing a complaint, not in the expectation of justice, but as one proverbial nail in the possible coffin of someone’s career.
And the agreement was that, apparently they were going to claim that basically I had performed my duties so poorly that they lost clients because of it.
I’ve heard of that type of suit before. What I haven’t heard of is a successful attempt.
It’s worth mentioning that the “you can’t get anything else unless you sue” line is often said but is not necessarily true. You can ask another unit of the labor department (not the same people who handle mediation) to conduct a labor inspection, and the if the result of the inspection includes a finding that the employer owes you money, you can ask the department to enforce it. They might tell you to sue because they simply don’t want to enforce anything, but they can enforce it, if they have enough evidence that they’re confident they would win in the event of the employer filing an administrative appeal or administrative suit against them.
Additionally, if the result of the labor inspection doesn’t satisfy you, you can file an administrative suit against the labor department. (It used to be impossible, but they changed the law maybe 10 or 20 years ago.) That would be quite an undertaking.
This is probably all moot though, because it sounds like you were persuaded to sign away your rights by accepting a settlement.
Ask a lawyer about #3 if you like, but it sounds like the deck is stacked against you at this point. 