The Study of Taiwan’s Labor Dispatch Employment: The case of “A Company in Southern Tainan Science Park”

• Main Author: 胡景嵐
• Other Authors: Tsai-Chuan Ma
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/4nw8ek

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 勞工關係學系碩士在職專班 === 107 === In recent years, numerous Taiwanese enterprises have shied away from offering formal job positions with proper job security and benefits in an attempt to reduce expenditure. Instead, they opt to hire dispatch workers to meet human resource needs. Since the promulgation of the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” labor policy, the number of Taiwan enterprises that hire dispatch workers has been increasing even more rapidly, and problems associated with labor dispatch are slowly beginning to surface. Using dispatch workers as the study sample, the researchers of the present study attempt to acquire a better understanding of the following topics: (1) circumstances that may result from hiring dispatch workers; (2) workplace inequality concerns that have arisen with the employment of dispatch workers; and (3) remedial measures that can be implemented to mitigate this inequality associated with the employment of dispatch workers. In this study, the researchers used a purposive sampling method to assemble a study sample comprising dispatch workers, dispatch agency personnel, user enterprise personnel, and representatives from relevant governmental departments. The recruited participants were interviewed by the researchers by using semistructured focus interview protocol. The interview results revealed that most user enterprises hire dispatch workers to cope with human resource demands in a flexible manner: when confronted with a sudden increase in the number of orders received, the user enterprises can hire dispatch workers with the help of dispatch agencies. Similarly, when confronted with a decrease in the number of orders received wherein the user enterprise no longer needs the help of these dispatch workers, the dispatch agencies are authorized to handle matters pertaining to the dispatch workers’ employment contracts. The authorization of dispatch agencies in handling these matters can indirectly reduce the expenditure of enterprises on human resources. Nevertheless, if certain dispatch workers demonstrate excellent performance, the user enterprises also have the option to hire the dispatch workers as full-time members of staff through the help of dispatch agencies. The results of the current study also indicate that hiring dispatch workers may lead to the occurrence of various workplace problems. First, the job positions of full-time staff may be threatened by the option to hire dispatch workers. Full-time staff may be entirely replaced by dispatch workers, or they may be forced to manage increased workloads. Second, the hiring of dispatch workers by user enterprises to cope with an increased number of orders may lead to the problem of employment insecurity. Additionally, although dispatch workers and full-time staff perform the same work tasks, their remuneration differs. Accordingly, problems such as pay inequality and differential treatment appear to be pertinent to the hiring of dispatch workers. The results of the current study indicate that although employee care measures are not ineffective, they tend to embody a more preventive approach: the implementation of employee care measures allows employees to feel valued and recognize the care provided by the company, and this indirectly helps to reduce the company’s turnover rate. Additionally, the researchers proposed four methods that can be used to address workplace inequality concerns that dispatch workers often face. Finally, the researchers propose relevant suggestions with the hope that these suggestions help to improve the labor conditions of dispatch workers. These suggestions cover areas such as reducing the occurrence of differential treatment and discrimination, making performance appraisal processes more open and transparent, and optimizing employee care measures to improve employee work performance. These suggestions can serve a reference for dispatch workers, governmental departments, dispatch agencies, and user enterprises.