The Executive Yuan of Taiwan on Tuesday approved an amendment put forward by the Ministry of Labor on loosening the requirement for workers to verify their attendance by punching a time clock in person.
The ministry proposed that the time-clock method could be replaced by other means that could track offsite workers’ whereabouts as long as both the employer and the employee mutually agree, The Liberty Times reported.
The existing guidelines specify four categories of workers – media and communication workers, teleworkers, field workers, and drivers – who may be exempted from having to use a time clock. The amendment clarifies that the regulation was not intended to be restricted to these workers only.
As well, any method that could confirm employee attendance such as GPS (Global Positioning System) tracking, handling customers’ orders, time-stamping by mobile device, maintaining work-history logs on the network or checking in by phone could be permitted.
The amendment could become effective as early as next month.