Taiwan – Persons with disabilities

III. The State duty to protect human rights

B. Actions taken

• Voluntary commitment to implementation of international covenants (page 6)

‘[…] although Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, it has nevertheless signed and ratified important United Nations human rights covenants in recent years, including the […] “Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities” […] In addition, the Taiwan government has gone through the legislative process to incorporate these covenants and conventions into domestic law, and has periodically prepared national reports and submitted them for review by international experts.’

• Business-related human rights safeguards in Taiwanese legislation (page 7)

‘The Taiwan government has already incorporated […] the “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” […] and other such UN covenants and conventions into domestic legislation, so they can be directly applied as Taiwan law.’

This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, The state duty to respect, UNGP2, Actions taken (page 38).

 

C. Actions planned

• Continue pushing for passage of laws to protect working conditions and labor rights (pages 9-10)

‘[Taiwan has] a special chapter on employment rights in the “Act for Protecting the Interests of the Physically and Mentally Disabled,” are promoting occupational rehabilitation, and have adopted a system of a fixed number of total employees. These measures are designed to uphold the rights and interests of persons with physical and mental disabilities.’

This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, The state duty to respect, UNGP2, Actions planned (page 39).

 

V. Access to remedy

B. Actions taken

• Non-judicial remedy

Grievance system for employment discrimination (page 19)

‘The labor competent authorities in local governments throughout Taiwan have already established employment discrimination grievance channels to deal with instances of employment discrimination involving […] disability. Accordingly, employees or job seekers who discover law-breaking behavior on the part of an employer can file a grievance via any of the aforementioned channels.’

This information is also covered under Appendix 4: Overview of the implementation of the state duty to protect and the access to remedy, Access to remedy, UNGP30, Actions taken (page 59).

 

Appendix 1: Concrete actions taken by Taiwan to fulfill the state obligation to protect

• Taiwan’s commitment to human rights and international participation (page 23)

‘Regarding the ratification and the entry into force of important UN conventions, the Taiwan government has taken following actions: […] The “Act to Implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” came into force on 3 December 2014. This convention protects the rights and interests of persons with physical and mental disabilities, and ensures their opportunity for equal social, political, economic, and cultural participation.’

• Government procurement (page 24)

‘Article 101, paragraph 1, subparagraph 14 of the “Government Procurement Act” provides that where the supplier discriminates on the basis of gender, aboriginal status, physical or mental disability, or status as the member of a disadvantaged group, where the details of the discrimination are particularly serious, it will be published in the Government Procurement Gazette and the supplier shall not be allowed to bid on a government contract (or be a sub-contractor) for one year.’

[…]

‘Article 98 of the “Government Procurement Act” stipulates that for a winning tenderer which employs more than 100 persons locally, aborigines or persons with physical or mental disabilities shall account for a minimum of two percent of the total number of employees during the term of contract performance; otherwise, the foregoing tenderer shall pay a fee in lieu of performance and shall not hire foreign workers to make up the shortage in question.’

• Other legislative action and measures (page 29)

‘Article 8 of the “Public Welfare Lottery Issue Act” provides as follows: “Disabled persons who are capable of working, indigenous persons, and single-parent families with low income shall be given first priority for lottery retailer licenses. Retailers which have more than five employees shall hire at least one disabled person who is capable of working, one indigenous person, or one head of a single-parent family with low income.”’