Today, fueled by the news media, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has seemingly become the leading representative of the most egregious companies in the country, due to the fact that KFC has accumulated a total of 14 labor complaints in the past year.
The report stated: “Cases of employers exploiting workers are rampant. Media reports revealed that fast-food giants McDonald’s and KFC are among the top ten companies with the most violations, with KFC ranking first. Labor groups criticized large corporations for not being afraid of fines and having their names published, and called for serious violations to be ordered to cease operations. Over the past year, media outlets have compiled lists of violating businesses, finding 458 companies involved in 624 violations. The most serious violations are related to overtime work, including 145 cases of excessive overtime and 108 cases of failing to pay overtime wages as required by law. KFC failed to pay extra wages to workers working on weekends, violating 14 rules and topping the list of sweatshops.”
After reading the news, I specifically went online to check which other companies were also on the list, but the data from the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of China left me completely baffled.
Among the blacklists available from various county and municipal governments, I didn’t actually find any illegal activities by KFC (Yum! Brands or Jardine Matheson Group). Instead, I did see one from Moss Burger (Anxin Food Services Co., Ltd.). So what exactly happened in this hotly debated news story today?
The problem lies in the media’s excessive patience. They quietly collected data “month by month” for nearly a year, thus, according to “statistics,” KFC became a representative of unscrupulous industries in the country based on the number of cases. However, I personally believe that the company ranked in a certain position in the media is truly at the top of the list. After all, even its own company building was forcibly auctioned off by the court due to massive debts, not to mention that its own employees have staged numerous large-scale protests. Isn’t that bad enough?
The main controversy surrounding Colonel Sanders’ previous complaints stemmed from KFC’s argument that “national holidays don’t count as overtime” differed from that of government agencies. After warnings, KFC proposed corresponding solutions. Therefore, Colonel Sanders disappeared from the blacklist in March and April, which I personally believe means he’s become more compliant. It seems that if the bigwigs at KFC had a meeting today, their thoughts on the major media companies were probably:
Furthermore, according to my own irresponsible statistics, the main illegal businesses registered in various counties and cities this month are: “medical institutions,” “nursing homes,” “electronics industry,” “associations,” “foundations,” “gas stations,” “transportation companies,” “restaurants,” “travel industry,” “engineering companies,” “security companies,” and “insurance companies.” When looking for related jobs, everyone should be extra careful, because exploiting workers is very addictive (just kidding).
In addition, areas including Keelung, Yilan, Hsinchu County, Miaoli, Nantou, Yunlin, Tainan, Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Penghu, Kinmen, and Lienchiang County seem to have had no labor disputes for several months, making for truly excellent working environments—definitely worth considering for employment—or perhaps even darker (hot tea).
It’s quite interesting that government regulations require disclosure but not retention of previously disclosed information. Logically, this should be a legal flaw, but perhaps it’s to protect corporate reputation. Therefore, we can only view the latest complaint announcements on the blacklists of various county and city governments, excluding past complaints. Perhaps the Council of Labor Affairs feels that as long as there’s a fine, the case is closed (lol).
With reasonable suspicion, I speculate that either it’s government administrative negligence, or the industry has unintentionally invested too much concern. After all, no company wants everyone to know it’s a dishonest enterprise, and the harmonious relationship between the political and business circles in Taiwan is no secret.
Supplementary Information:
Labor Working Hours Regulations:
- Daily normal working hours shall not exceed 8 hours, and total working hours in two weeks shall not exceed 84 hours;
- Normal working hours plus overtime shall not exceed 12 hours per day;
- Overtime in a single month shall not exceed 46 hours.
Calculation of Overtime Pay:
- For overtime of 2 hours or less per day, the hourly wage is 1.33 times the regular hourly wage;
- For the 3rd and 4th hours of overtime, the hourly wage is 1.67 times the regular hourly wage.
Labor Consultation and Complaint Channels:
- Website: Ministry of Labor, Republic of China;
- Telephone: 0800-085-151 (09:00 – 17:00);
Notes: If a responsibility system or flexible working hours regulations apply, each case must be determined individually.